HISTORY OF IKE-BANA 



flower arrangement. Yoshimasa finally ab- 

 dicated the throne in order to devote his 

 time to the fine arts. It was he who said 

 that flowers offered on all ceremonial occa- 

 sions and placed as offerings before the gods 

 should not be offered loosely, but should 

 represent time and thought. Rules then 

 commenced to be formulated. 



It is to the celebrated painter Soami, a 

 contemporary and friend of Yoshimasa, that 

 the Japanese attribute the new develop- 

 ment, for it was Soami who conceived the 

 idea of representing the three elements of 

 Heaven, Man, and Earth, from which have 

 grown the principles of the arrangements 

 used at the present day. It was at Yoshi- 

 masa's Silver Pavilion in Kyoto, where the 

 cult of Cha-no-yu, the tea ceremony, and 

 Koawase, the incense ceremony, may be 

 said to have been evolved that the art of 

 Ike-bana received its great development. 



If we follow the taste of the artists of this 

 day, known as the Kano School, Sesshu 

 ( 1 421-1507), Sesson, Masanobu, Motonobu 



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