Page:Japanese flower arrangement.djvu/39

 the present form, which has a fixed rule or model known as Heaven, Man, and Earth.

The most popular schools of today, Ike-nobu, Enshiu-Ryu, Misho-Ryu, etc., adhere to these principles, but there still exist in Tokyo and Kyoto many masters of Ike-bana who teach the simpler forms of Ko-Ryu, and Ko Shin-Ryu of the Genroku and Tenmei ages. They feel that the rule of Heaven, Earth, and Man, too obstinately adhered to, gives constraint and spoils naturalness of arrangement. It is absolutely necessary to use these fundamental principles in order to achieve a well-balanced arrangement, but to accentuate and exaggerate these lines is looked upon as poor taste by the admirers of these more natural schools. Therefore these lines must not be made so strong as to obliterate the natural form of the plant.

I feel most strongly that the styles of Ike-bana practical for use in the Western world are those which combine the pattern or rule with following the natural lines of [33]