The Art of Floral Arrangement

By Qiao Ye

Once I went to visit my friend and saw a bunch of beautiful flowers displayed beside the television as I entered the living room. The flowers were not only in nice bloom, but were also arranged with great taste.

“I did it,” my friend said.“I have been studying how to arrange flowers lately.”

“What’s your biggest harvest?”

“My biggest harvest is that I found there are natural similarities between the art of arranging flowers and the principle of behaving yourself in life.”

“Can you tell it to me?”

“Of course,” she said with a fairly exulted smile. “Just taking this bunch of flowers for example,there are five basic laws—

“Firstly, the light top and heavy bottom refer to the color of flowers. The deep color is in the foundation, the light colors are at the top; such a flower arrangement has a sense of stability. Conducting yourself is the same as this. You have to make clear what is flashy and what fundamental so that you won’t lose yourself.”

I nodded.

“Secondly, the gathered top and scattered bottom of flowers refer to the allocation of the placement of flowers in terms of size. The small and thin petals should be arranged on the top and outside;and the big and thick petals are in the middle and bottom. It will offer the flower arrangement a sense of balance. Conducting yourself is the same. You have to make clear your location in life so as to find the most suitable affiliation.”

“Thirdly, varying in height refers to the arrangement of sprays. Only when the sprays vary in length and height will the bouquet display vitality and a sense of flow. In conducting yourself, you need to know how to exert your strength and avoid your shortcomings in order to make all your efforts count.”

I look at her with a smile.Her words and wisdom really surprised me.

“Fourthly, the distance between flowers and sprays should be varying in size and density. The big flowers should keep sparse and the small should be dense,so that the flower arrangement is proper in actual condition with a sense of layers. In conducting yourself, you should behave the same way. Principle and propriety can make you mellow and natural,” she said with a smile. “Finally, the top and bottom should be consistent.It means that the dynamics of the whole bouquet should be concentrated—that is, the shape of flowers arrangement is spread out, but the spirit of it is concentrative, so that the flower arrangement can be associated with each other and have a sense of wholeness. The way you conduct yourself is through selfuniformity. However, it is just a basic framework, and the specific situation should be determined by flowers or persons.”

一次，我去一位朋友家里玩儿，一进客厅，就看到电视机旁摆着一束漂亮的鲜花。这束鲜花不但开得好，而且插得十分有味道。

“是我插的。”朋友说，“我最近刚刚研究一点儿插花的学问。”

“最大的收获是什么？”

“最大的收获是，我发现插花的艺术和做人的道理有天然的相通之处。”

“给我讲讲好吗？”

“当然可以，”她颇有些得意地笑道，“就拿这一束花来说吧，基本规律有五条——

“第一，上轻下重，指的是花的色彩。色彩深的居下，色彩浅的居上，这样的插花作品具有稳定感。做人也是如此，一定要弄清楚哪些是浮华的东西，哪些是根底的东西，这样就不会轻易地失落自己。”

我点点头。

“第二，上聚下散，指的是大小花的位置分配。花朵小的，花瓣比较单薄的要插在外部和上部；花朵大的，花瓣比较丰富的应当放在中部和下部。这样的插花作品具有均衡感。做人也是同样，一定要明白自己在生活中的位置，才能找到最适合自己的归属。

“第三，高低错落，指的是花枝的安排。花枝一定要有长有短，有高有低，这样的插花作品才会显得生动活泼，具有流动感。做人也要知道自己该如何发挥长处和如何收敛短处，才能尽自己最大的努力去做到最好。”

我微笑地看着她。她的话很令我意外。

“第四，要有疏有密，指的是花朵和花枝之间的距离要有大有小，大则疏，小则密，这样的插花作品才会虚实相宜，具有层次感。做人也应当这样，有原则，有分寸，才会做得圆润自然。”她笑道，“最后就是要仰俯呼应。这指的是整个花的动势要集中，要形散而神不散，这样的插花作品才会彼此关联，具有整体感。表现在做人方面，就是说自我的统一性。不过，这也只是一个基础框架，具体的情况还要因花而宜，因人而定。”

听完她的一番话，我开始细细地端详起这束花来。她说得多好啊，做人不也是这样吗？这束花看上去似乎很平常，其实每个人都和每束花一样，有轻有重，有散有聚，有高有低，有疏有密，有呼有应。每一幅作品都需要我们去用心经营，才能做到最真和最美。◆

After hearing her words, I began to examine this bunch of flowers. How wonderful what she said was. Isn’t life like this?This bunch of flowers seemed to be quite common; in fact, each person is also like a bunch of flowers echoing each other and varying in weight, concentration,height, and density. Each piece needs to be managed carefully to attain the most genuine and beautiful arrangement.◆