Shoka #1

Ikebana class has resumed for 2012 and we started on a new form called the Shoka. This form evolved from the earlier Moribana style. It is very regimented with strict rules on arrangement and full of symbolism. Traditionally, the Shoka arrangement is placed in an alcove in the guest room with a paper door/window on one side where the light stream into the room. In this arrangement, the flowers (can be 1,2 or 3 types; total number of stem is odd number - 7 in the case) are arranged in a straight line is supposed to be viewed only from the front. Because of the placement of the arrangement in the room, one half is brighter (yang) and the other is dimmer (yin). The main stem (shin) is placed in the center, the middle stem (soe) to the rear and left and the short stem (tai) to the front and right [you will be able to see this easier in the second image below taken at right angle]. All three stems are supported by ancillary stems (ashirai). Shin symbolizes the Man (also include the mind and heart), Soe symbolizes the heavens and Tai symbolizes the earth. Man can be tempered by heaven and earth (making the main stem is slightly curved) but in the end the righteous man/mind is centered (the tip of the main stem is plum vertical with the base and completely centered if viewed from the top). There are other nuances such as the curve and deviation of the stems from the verticals, ratio of the Shin, Soe & Tai, height of the stem base from the water surface etc in the arrangement.

Hope you enjoy looking at this as much as I did in making the arrangement. I tried to capture the symbolism of yin-yang (male-female; dominant-submissive; bright-dark etc) in the image by making the left side brighter than the left.