General Rules and Basic Styles of Ikebana

General Rules and Basic Styles of Ikebana

It has been told time and again that Ikebana arrangement should look natural. The whole arrangement should present a look as if it is a flowering bush or tree planted in the container itself. In any style of Ikebana arrangement there are three main lines, viz. ‘Haven’, ‘Man’ and ‘Earth’. According to Sogetsu school these lines are named.

Shin (Heaven), Soc (Man) and Hikae (Earth). In any arrangement the Shin should always be the tallest stem, followed in terms of height by soc and Hikae. In addition, there are the Jushi stems or the fillers attached to each of the three main lines these associate. In the Moribana arrangement additional Jushi on dwarf stems are often used to conceal the pin holder.

The Ikebana arrangements generally uses only a few flowers in add numbers except when two flowers are used. The flowers and the branches should be selected after careful thought. Faced flowers, torn or damaged leaves, and injured branches are never included in an arrangement. It is always advantageous to use half opened buds as then the arrangement will last longer. The pin holders are generally not placed in the centre of a container in the Moribanba arrangement unless there is no other way out.

In Sogetsu school both for the Moribana and the Nageire arrangements there are only two basic styles. Namely, the Basic upright and the Basic slanting. There are several variations from these basic styles which include the flat, floating, hanging and cascade arrangements.

Basic Upright Style in Moribana:

It will be easier to under stand the basic four styles given ahead. For a better, understanding a short description of the arrangement is given below. The pin holder is placed at the frontal left corner of the container; the shin is fixed in the pin holder at the rear sand at an angle of 100  to 150 on the left of the vertical 00and bend forward by about 100. Soe is then arrangement on the left of Shin at 450from vertical and caused to lean forward by 200. The Hikac finds its position on the right side of the vertical at the angle of 750with a forward inclination of 300. The Jushi are now fixed in position as per ule described carlier.

Basic Scaging style in Moribana :

In this arrangement the pin-holder is positioned at the rear of the container towards, your right and Here, all the angles and inclinations remain the same as above, Except that the angle and inclination of Shin is interchanged with that of Soe as above and vice –versa.

Basic Upright Style in Nageire :

 If a cross-bar fixture is used for this arrangement, the opening of the vase will be divided into four quadrants and only one such quadrant is used at time for arranging the flowers. In this style of arrangement all the angles and inclinations for the three main lines are exactly similar to that of basic upright style of Moribana. The Jushi are arranged in the same quadrant close to the respective lines tasking care to camouflage the fixture with their help.

Basic Slanting Style in Nageire :

Here the tallest main line Shin is fixed firmly in a split bar fixture and the cut and of shine should rest against the opposite inside wall of the vase for additional support. The soe may either have its own split-bar fixture or draw support from Shin. Hikae being the smallest in length does not need its own fixture, but can be held in position with the support of the other stems. Here also, the angles and inclinations of the main lines remain the same, as in the basic slanting style of Moribana.