On Flowers and Flower Arrangements

Lin Yutang

There seems to be a certain randomness about the enjoyment of flowers and flower arrangements， as we know it today. The enjoyment of flowers， like the enjoyment of trees， must begin with the selection of certain noble varieties， with a sense of grading of their relative standing， and with the association of definite sentiments and surroundings with definite flowers. To begin with， there is the matter of fragrance， from the strong and obvious， like that of jasmine， to the delicate， like that of lilac， and finally to the most refined and subtle kind， like that of the Chinese orchid. The more subtle and less easily perceivable its fragrance， the more noble the flower may be regarded. Then there is the matter of color and appearance and charm， which again varies a great deal. Some are like buxom lassies and others are like slender， poetic， quiet ladies. Some seem to pander their charms to the crowd， and others are happy in their own fragrant being and seem contented merely to dream their hours away. Some go in for a dash of color， while others have a milder and more restrained taste. Above all， flowers are always associated with the outward surroundings and seasons of their bloom. The rose is naturally associated in our minds with a bright sunny spring day； the lotus is naturally associated with a cool summer morning on a pond； the cassia is naturally associated with the harvest moon and mid-autumn festivities； the chrysanthemum is associated with the eating of crabs in late autumn； the plum is naturally associated with snow and together with the narcissus it forms a definite part of our enjoyment of the New Year. Each seems perfect in its own natural surroundings， and it is the easiest of all things for lovers of flowers to make them stand in our mind for definite pictures of the different seasons， as the holly stands for Christmas.

Like the pine tree and the bamboo， the orchid， the chrysanthemum and the lotus are selected for certain definite qualities and stand in Chinese literature as symbols for the gentleman， the orchid more particularly for an exotic beauty. The plum flower is probably most beloved by Chinese poets among all flowers， and has been partly dealt with already in the previous section. It is said to be the " first " among the flowers， because it comes with the New Year and therefore stands first in the procession of flowers in the course of the year. Opinions differ， of course， and the peony has been traditionally regarded as the " king of flowers， " particularly in the Tang Dynasty. On the other hand， the peony being rich in its colors and its petals， is rather regarded as the symbol of the rich and happy man， whereas the plum flower is the poets flower， and symbol of the quiet， poor scholar， and therefore the latter is spiritual as the former is materialistic. One scholar voiced his sympathy for the peony only because of the fact that， when Empress Wu of the Tang Dynasty commanded one day， in one of her megalomaniac whims， that all the flowers in the imperial garden should bloom on a certain day in mid-winter， just because she wanted it， the peony was the only one that dared to offend her Imperial Majesty by blooming a few hours late， and consequently， all the thousands of pots of peony flowers were banished by imperial decree from Sian， the capital， to Loyang. Although falling out of imperial favor， the cult of the peony was still maintained and Loyang became a center for peony flowers. I think the reason that the Chinese do not place more importance on the rose is because its color and shape belong in the same class with the peony， but have been overshadowed by the latters gorgeousness. According to early Chinese sources， there were ninety varieties of the peony distinguished， and each was given a most poetic name.

Unlike the peony， the orchid stands as the symbol of secluded charm because it is often found in a deserted shady valley. It is said to have the virtue of " enjoying its own lonely charm， " not caring whether people look at it or not， and extremely unwilling to be moved into the city. If it consents to be moved， it must be cultivated on its own terms， or it dies. Hence we often speak of a beautiful secluded maiden， or a great scholar living away in the mountains with contempt for power and fame， as"a secluded orchid in a deserted valley." Its fragrance is so subtle that it doesnt seem to make a particular effort to please anybody， but when people do appreciate it， how divine is its fragrance！ This makes it a symbol for the gentleman not caring to cater to the public， and also for true friendship， because an ancient book says，"After entering and remaining in a house with orchids for a long time， one ceases to feel the fragrance， " when he himself is permeated with it. Li Liweng advised that the best way to enjoy orchids was not to place them in all rooms， but only in one room and then to enjoy the fragrance when passing out and in. American orchids do not seem to have this subtle fragrance， but on the other hand， are bigger and more gorgeous in shape and color. In my native city and province， we are supposed to have the best orchids in China， known as"Fukien orchids. " The flower is pale green with spots of purple and is of a very much smaller size， the petals being slightly over an inch long. The best and most highly valued variety， the Chen Mengliang， has such a color that it is barely visible when immersed in water， being of the same color as the water itself. Unlike the peony， whose varieties are known after their place of origin， the different famous varieties of the orchid are known， like many American flower varieties， after their owners， as"General Pu， " "Quartermaster Shun， ""Judge Li， " " Eighth Brother Huang， ""Chen Mengliang， " " Hsu Chingchu. "

There is no question that the extreme difficulty of cultivating orchids and the flowers extreme delicacy of health contributed to the idea of its nobility of character. Among all the flowers， the orchid is the one that most easily withers or rots away with the slightest mishandling. Hence an orchid-lover always attends to it with his personal care and does not leave it to the servants， and I have seen people caring for their orchids like their own parents. An extremely valuable plant aroused as much jealousy as a particularly good piece of bronze or vase， and hatred from a friends refusal to give away its new offshoots could be extremely bitter. Chinese notebooks record the case of a scholar who was refused new offshoots from a plant and was sentenced to jail for stealing it. This sentiment is well expressed by Shen Fu in Six Chapters of a Floating Life in the following manner：

The orchid was prized most among all the flowers because of its subdued fragrance and graceful charm， but it was difficult to obtain really good classic varieties. When Lan po died， he presented me with a pot of spring orchids， whose flowers had lotus-shaped petals； the centre of the flowers was broad and white， the petals were very neat and even at the " shoulders " ， and the stems were very slender. This type was classical， and I prized it like a piece of old jade. When I was working away from home， Yun used to take care of it personally and it grew beautifully. After two years， it died suddenly one day. I dug up its roots and found that they were white like marble， while nothing was wrong with the sprouts， either. At first， I could not understand this， but ascribed it with a sigh merely to my own bad luck， which might be unworthy to raise such flowers. Later on， I found out that some one had asked for some of the flowers from the same pot， had been refused， and had therefore killed it by pouring boiling water over it. Thenceforth I swore I would never grow orchids again.

The chrysanthemum is the flower of the poet Tao Yuanming， as the plum flower was the flower of the poet Lin Hoching， and the lotus was the flower of the Confucian doctrinaire， Chou Lienchi. Blooming in late autumn， it shares the idea of "cold fragrance" and "cold splendor." The contrast between the cold splendor of the chrysanthemum and the gorgeous splendor， say， of the peony is easily seen and understood. Hundreds of varieties exist， and so far as I know， a great Sung scholar， Fan Chengta， started the fashion of recording its different varieties with the most beautiful names. Variety seems to be the very essence of the chrysanthemum flower， both variety of shape and of color. The white and the yellow are regarded as the "orthodox" colors of the flower， while purple and red are regarded as deviations and therefore given a low grading. The colors of white and yellow gave rise to the names of the varieties like"Silver Bowl"，"Silver Bells"，"Golden Bells"，"Jade Basin"，"Jade Bells"，"Jade Embroidered Ball". Some were given the names of famous beauties， like "Yang Kueifei" and "Hsishih".Sometimes their shapes resemble a ladys close-cropped hair and sometimes their quills resemble flowing locks. Some varieties have more fragrance than others， and the best are supposed to have the fragrance of musk， or of an incense called " Dragons Brains. "

The lotus or water lily is in a class by itself and seems to me personally the most beautiful of all flowers， when we consider the flower， including its stem and its leaves floating on the water， as a whole. It is impossible to enjoy summer without having lotus flowers around， and if one does not have a house near a pond， he can grow them in big earthen jars. In this case， however， we miss much of the beauty of a half a miles stretch of lotus flowers， their perfume pervading the air， and their white and red tipped blossoms contrasting with their broad green leaves with water running on them like liquid pearls. （The American water lilies are different from the lotus.） The Sung scholar Chou wrote an essay explaining why he loved the lotus and pointing out that the lotus， like the gentleman， grew out of dirty water but was not contaminated by it. He was talking like a regular Confucian doctrinaire. From the utilitarian point of view， every part of the flower is utilized. The lotus root is used to make a cooling drink， its leaves are used for wrapping fruits or food to be steamed， its flowers are enjoyed for their shape and fragrance， and finally the lotus seed is regarded as the food of the fairies， either eaten raw， fresh from the pod， or dried and sugared.

The haitang pyrus， resembling appleblossoms， enjoys as great a popularity among poets as any other flower， although Tu Fu failed to make a single mention of this flower which grew in his native province， Szechuen. Various explanations have been offered， but the most plausible one was that the haitang was his mothers name and he had avoided it out of deference to his mother.

There are only two flowers for whose fragrance I am willing to forego the orchid， and they are the cassia and the narcissus. The last is also a special product of my native city， Changchow， and its import into the United States in the form of cultivated roots at one time ran to hundreds of thousands of dollars， until the Department of Agriculture saw fit to deprive the American people of this flower with a heavenly fragrance， in order to protect them from possible germs. The notion that the white roots of the narcissus， as clean as a fairy itself， and intended to be planted not in mud but in a glass or china basin of water supported with pebbles， and prepared with the utmost care， could contain germs is most fantastic. The azalea is supposed to be a tragic flower， in spite of its smiling beauty， because it was supposed to spring from the tears of blood of the cuckoo， who was formerly a boy in search of his lost brother persecuted out of home by a stepmother.

Quite as important as the selection and grading of the flowers themselves is their arrangement in vases. This was an art that could be traced back at least as far as the eleventh century. The author of Six Chapters of a Floating Life， written at the beginning of the nineteenth century， gives a description of the art of arranging flowers to resemble a picture with good composition in his chapter on " The Little Pleasures of Life " ：

The chrysanthemum， however， was my passion in the autumn of every year. I loved to arrange these flowers in vases， but not to raise them in pots， not because I did not want to have them that way， but because I had no garden in my home and could not take care of them myself. Those I bought at the market were not properly trained and not to my liking. When arranging chrysanthemum flowers in vases， one should take an odd， not even number， and each vase should have flowers of only one colour. The mouth of the vase should be broad so that the flowers can lie easily together. Whether there be half a dozen flowers or even thirty or forty of them in a vase， they should be so arranged as to come up together straight from the mouth of the vase， neither overcrowded， nor too much spread out， nor leaning against the mouth of the vase. This is called " keeping the handle firm " . Sometimes they can stand gracefully erect， and sometimes spread out in diffrent directions. In order to avoid a bare monotonous effect， they should be mixed with some flower buds and arranged in a kind of studied disorderliness. The leaves should not be too thick and the stems should not be too stiff. In using pins to hold the stems up， one should break the long pins off， rather than expose them. This is called " keeping the mouth of the vase clear. " Place from three to seven vases on a table， depending on the size of the latter， for if there were too many of them， they would be overcrowded， looking like chrysanthemum screens at the market. The stands for the vases should be of diffrent height， from three or four inches to two and a half feet， so that the different vases at different heights would balance one another and belong intimately to one another as in a picture with unity of composition. To put one vase high in the centre with two low at the sides， or to put a low one in front and a tall one behind， or to arrange them in symmetrical pairs， would be to create what is vulgarly called " a heap of gorgeous refuse. " Proper spacing and arrangement must depend on the individuals understanding of pictorial composition.

In the case of flower bowls or open dishes， the method of making a support for the flowers is to mix refined resin with elm bark， flour and oil， and heat the mixture with hot hay ashes until it becomes a kind of glue， and with it glue some nails upside down on to a piece of copper. This copper plate can then be heated up and glued on to the bottom of the bowl or dish. When it is cold， tie the flowers in groups by means of wire and stick them on those nails. The flowers should be allowed to incline sideways and not shoot up from the centre； it is also important that the stems and leaves should not come too closely together. After this is done， put some water in the bowl and cover up the copper support with some clean sand， so that the flowers will seem to grow directly from the bottom of the bowl.

When picking branches from flower trees for decoration in vases， it is important to know how to trim them before putting them in the vase， for one cannot always go and pick them oneself， and those picked by others are often unsatisfactory. Hold the branch in your hand and turn it back and forth in different ways in order to see how it lies most expressively. After one has made up ones mind about it， lop off the superfluous branches， with the idea of making the twig look thin and sparse and quaintly beautiful. Next think how the stem is going to lie in the vase and with what kind of bend， so that when it is put there， the leaves and flowers can be shown to the best advantage. If one just takes any old branch in hand， chooses a straight section and puts it in the vase， the consequence will be that the stem will be too stiff， the branches will be too close together and the flowers and leaves will be turned in the wrong direction， devoid of all charm and expression. To make a straight twig crooked， cut a mark half way across the stem and insert a little piece of broken brick or stone at the joint； the straight branch will then become a bent one. In case the stem is too weak， put one or two pins to strengthen it. By means of this method， even maple leaves and bamboo twigs or even ordinary blades of grass and thistles will look very well for decoration. Put a twig of green bamboo side by side with a few berries of Chinese matrimony vine or arrange some fine blades of grass together with some branches of thistle. They will look quite poetic， if the arrangement is correct.