News
The floral exhibition accompanied the opening of the Warriors, Tombs, and Temples-China’s Ending Legacy at Bower Museum.
There were two hundred guests invited to the exclusive reception, American Cancer Society: Love Note Around the World, at the Huntington Memorial Hospital. The participants enjoyed dinner along with a tea ceremony and flower demonstration. The goal was to experience ancient cultural arts and to slow down our fast-paced life in order to have a balanced and healthy life.
The Verdant Mist Scholar’s Society was founded after the Liu Fang Yuan was built and the Chinese Floral Arts Foundation - USA Charter was established right after by the same interested art and culture individuals.
Fairytale Under
the stars
Liu Fang Yuan, the Garden of Flowing Fragrance at the Huntington Library is not only a place to view the growth of nature, but a place to understand growth within ourselves. The Verdant Mist Scholar’s Society took on the responsibility of sharing a fascinating story of Valentine’s Day (Qi Xi) in four different versions (Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese) and read by 3 different languages.
The Bowers Museum showed great interest in adding our floral arrangements to accompany their exhibition. Aside from floral arrangements, CFAF demonstrated calligraphy and a tea ceremony. As early as Song dynasty, scholars practiced the four arts/rituals. Floral arrangement is one of the important arts that the scholars performed every morning.
The excitement of flower arranging has continuing to grow in the last year. The floral masters were invited to display the magnificent works not only in the museums but also in the commercial installations. Many private groups also showed great interests to learn this long lost art that was rejuvenated in Taiwan.
The first phase of the Chinese garden, Liu Fang Yuan, was completed in February 2008. A group of 16 floral masters came all the way from Taiwan to celebrate the grand opening. The creations of the masters’ works were intertwined with nature that amazed all the visitors. Classes and lectures were offered to the public as well during the entire week event.
When Jim Folsom, PhD, director of the Botanical Gardens at the Huntington Library, learned of the Chinese Floral Arts Foundation, he expressed interest in bringing experienced floral masters to share their knowledge with the florists at the Huntington. Master Lishu Li taught classes and shared her talents with the enthusiastic participants.
This was the first time traditional Chinese floral arts were introduced to the Los Angeles area. A group of certified floral masters from Taiwan created displays and gave lectures at LACMA and Tzu Chi Center. Many in the audience were surprised to learn that floral arts no longer existed in China and has been lost for the last 200 years only to be revived in Taiwan 35 years ago.
