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The Tsubaki or camellia has a deep history with Japan, perhaps beginning more than two thousand years ago with the Tsubaki Grand Shrine. This Japan's oldest Shinto shrine, formally known as Chiwaki Grand Shrine, was visited by the 16th Emperor Nintoku (313-399), where he had a dream in which one thousand camellias bloomed in one night. He then deemed its name be changed to Tsubaki Grand Shrine.
Camellia Japonica, it is believed, originated in China and it is this cultivar that we see used in Japanese design. It symbolizes longevity, a love bond, happy marriage, fortune, victory and happiness. It is one of the most loved blooms of winter flowering shrubs that welcomes the long-awaited spring season. The Japanese kanji character combines symbols for tree and spring, to bring a vision to this most beautiful of flowers.
Not only is this most delicate of flowers seen in the design of kimono, haori and obi but its ashes are used in the dyeing method of Kihachijo, a plant-dyed silk fabric, to fix the color.
The fragility of this flower is also remembered in Japanese history, where death to a samurai is often sudden, thus the camellia was an important fixture in the garden of the warrior class. A symbol of great beauty and transience that Buddhist philosophy embraces, this flower remains admired and endures in Japanese culture.
In a traditional Japanese spirit, I leave this Haiku in your thoughts -
Camellia-petal
Fell in silent dawn
Spilling a water jewel.
Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) |
