Conclusion. 65 



the Japanese esthetic ideas cannot help feeling that what is 

 called here a "bouquet" is generally "a vulgar murdering of 

 flowers, an outrage upon the color-sense, a brutality, an 

 abomination." The most artistic American could scarcely 

 appreciate, as much as even the lowest Japanese, the beauty 

 of a solitary spray of blossoms or even of a solitary branch 

 or twig without a single blossom. 



The whole theory of Japanese flower arrangement de- 

 pends upon the "language of line" rather than upon mass 

 or color. Upon this simple base a rigid and complex sys- 

 tem has been established, which has been carefully and 

 thoroughly studied and analyzed by a foreign architect, an 

 Englishman, in the employ of the Japanese Government. 

 It will serve to give some idea of the magnitude and com- 

 plexity of the subject to state that Mr. Conder's explana- 

 tion thereof covers a hundred pages of the Transactions 

 of the Asiatic Society of Japan. 2 He has discussed and 

 illustrated by numerous drawings the proper and improper 

 combinations, the language of flowers, and other interest- 

 ing matters. 



This art of arranging flowers was considered by the 

 Japanese as an "elegant accomplishment," and was an im- 

 portant item in the education of women of rank. But it 

 appertained also to men of rank and of culture who might 

 have retired from active life to the leisure of literary and 

 esthetic pursuits. It has been stated that those who en- 

 gaged in this "fine art" would possess the following ten 

 virtues : 



"The privilege of associating with superiors ; ease and 

 dignity before men of rank ; a serene disposition and forget- 

 fulness of cares; amusement in solitude; familiarity with 

 the nature of plants and trees; the respect of mankind; 

 constant gentleness of character; healthiness of mind and 

 body; a religious spirit; self-abnegation and restraint." 



1 He has also expanded this into an elegant book called The Floral Art 

 of Japan. 



