1.30,000 rice dumpling leaves and bundles of Poria vines are delicately processed into a triangular structure nearly 3 meters high, dotted with soft, delicately colored calla lilies and white tulips. Under the half-light and half-darkness, the front of the work looks like a rice dumpling, and the side looks like a heart. Before the person approached, he could already smell the fragrance of dumpling leaves in the room.
This is the main work in the Dragon Boat Festival-themed series "Flowers and Wood Sloths" designed by Taiwanese Chinese floral art professor Chang Dinghua for Xiamen's "Playing Wood Space" before the Dragon Boat Festival in 2022.
Chang Dinghua (right) poses for a group photo with the work.
I came from a Chinese floral background, and I also love space art. I believe that 'no break, no stand', and it is my pursuit to let large-scale space floral works express the core of the traditional spirit. Chang Dinghua said.
With Chinese floral art as the source, it covers a wide range of subjects
Chang Dinghua is a professor of Chinese floral art who "does not play cards according to common sense".
More than 30 years ago, Chang Dinghua made the real estate business prosperous in Taiwan, China, and spent his spare time learning Chinese floral art. Later, she went to Xiamen alone to continue to do real estate business, and encountered many difficulties. At this time, she had already obtained the qualification of Chinese floral art professor and began to teach.
I have regular classes for students every week, and it has become a hub for my interpersonal network. There is no interest relationship between teachers and students, I just want to teach them the best, and I am very happy at this time. Chang Dinghua said.
The spiritual core of Chinese floral art is to establish a heart for heaven and earth, and see heaven and earth in a vase of flowers. Chinese flower arrangement is a great ambition, and it has humility and tolerance in front of heaven and earth. These are the words of Professor Huang Yongchuan, the founder of Chinese Floriculture, which has a great influence on Chang Dinghua. Slowly, she came out of the self-centered world and began to observe the lives of others, observing the world, and her sense of mission of cultural inheritance became stronger and stronger, and her understanding of Chinese floral art became more and more profound.
In 2003, Chang Dinghua founded the "Heaven and Earth Have Great Beauty" school in Xiamen, and devoted himself to the teaching of Chinese floral art. With a chic nature, she not only designed the classroom as a spacious space of 300 square meters, but also always used a large number of flowers and novel flowers in teaching. "I hope that the students will be exposed to a variety of flowers, because flower arrangement will eventually return to a colorful and diverse life. Chang Dinghua said.
She is not limited to flower arrangements only on the table, and often takes students to the mountains to study. In the nourishment of the sunshine and air in the mountains, everyone relaxes themselves and arranges flowers. She also likes to take the students to enjoy the tea ceremony and incense culture in addition to flower arrangement. Students rushed to the classroom from all over the world, and while focusing on learning, they sat down around the tea table, enjoyed a cup of good tea collected by the teacher, and shared their joys and sorrows, which was the most comfortable time between teachers and students.
Chang Dinghua has a wide range of knowledge. When she first learned Chinese floral art, she liked to collect all kinds of flower arrangement, and gradually became half an expert in "utensils"; Later, she learned the tea ceremony, and she was especially good at tea table setting; Studying the I Ching, energetics and spiritual courses, she paid attention to the art of the five elements in flower arrangement, emphasizing the spiritual nourishment brought by her works; Later, she devoted herself to the study of incense and became the ** of Liu Liangyou, a famous incense artist.
Most notably, she studied landscape design under Pete Hans, a world landscape master. "I've always been interested in space design, and Ouhua's architecture and three-dimensional modeling concept have opened up my design ideas. Chang Dinghua said. In the landscape course, she learned the concept and technique of using local materials and natural materials such as hemp rope.
Chang Dinghua believes that no matter how he changes in the form of flower arrangement, he always follows the Chinese flower art of heaven and man.
1. Return to the inner creative concept.
Can the concept of Chinese floral art adapt to modern space?
Over the years, Chang Dinghua has used her works to focus on a topic: can the concept of traditional Chinese floral art adapt to modern space? How do you get the audience to really approach and understand the work?
For this reason, in addition to teaching, she travels to various cities in China all year round to participate in exhibitions, and each of her creations is described by her partners as "unexpected and impressive".
In 2021, at the site of the "10th Yixin Family Grass and Tree Collection Literati Aesthetic Collection" held in Handan Cizhou Ink Garden, known as the "domestic aesthetic feast", Chang Dinghua led the student team to collaborate with the Pitt family floral team to complete the large-scale theme work "Wind and Water".
The 15-meter-long "tornado" suspended in the upper part of the entire space is the main body, and is laid out in a southwest-northeast trend. The branches and leaves of the iron tree that connect from the ground to the air are like tornadoes sweeping in, full of tension; On the ground, the ripples of bark and iron leaves resemble ripples on the surface of a lake, and the twisted rattan gives a sense of grandeur.
The form of the work is both rigid and soft, and the use of color is progressive and layered. The overall layout uses the hexagram principle of the I Ching Acquired Bagua: the viewer follows the designed moving line, and is naturally in a state of flowing and absorbing energy.
The above is the work "Wind and Water".
As a well-known brand focusing on humanistic aesthetics, "Yixinjia" has invited Chang Dinghua to exhibit many times, especially for the tea party. When she exhibited at Shenzhen Bay No. 1, she used imported coconut shells to design a semi-circular moon-shaped structure based on the square pattern of the space, contrasting the square with the circle. A mirror standing on its side reminds the viewer to look inside. The title of the work is "Beyond the Tea Mirror", which is a good integration of oriental cultural elements into the Western-style space, which is evocative.
The above is the work "Beyond the Tea Mirror".
In May last year, at the invitation of the Xiamen Museum, Chang Dinghua planned the "Yilu Honest" Chinese Flower Art Exhibition. In that exhibition, Chang Dinghua fully demonstrated her understanding of oriental aesthetics, attracting thousands of visitors in a single day and nearly 2 million views on the webcast.
Chang Dinghua believes that the inheritance of traditional culture should be a spiritual continuation, rather than a symbolic reproduction. The expression of the works can be diverse, but they always convey a classical spirit. "The most amazing work is all about cultivating the heart in the end. ”
In the article**provided by Chang Dinghua).
Written by reporter Huo Lijie).
Statement: The copyright of this article belongs to the "China Flower News", and it shall not be tampered with at will without permission, and the offender will be held legally responsible. If you need **, please contact us in advance.