Japanese flower arrangement/Chapter 6

by Mary Averill

CHAPTER SIX
TO MAKE AN ARRANGEMENT OF
FIVE FLOWERS

ARRANGEMENTS of five flowers or branches are called Gogyo. They should be arranged like the cut.

No. 1 represents Heaven.

No. 2 represents Man.

No. 5 represents Earth.

But they are placed in the arrangement as they are numbered; No. 3 and No. 4 being attributes to Heaven and Man.

Forming "Steps" or "Dan"

In some arrangements you can make the flowers form "dan" or "steps," like this: If the branches have many flowers or leaves, or if you are arranging numbers of branches together, then put the greater part of the flowers or leaves, as the case may be, in the encircled place in the right-hand figure in the diagram. This is the main body of the arrangement and is called do. Never use this style of arrangement with three flowers.