Ann Kameoka and H. E. Davey: Excerpt from The Japanese
Way of the Flower
In a manner of speaking, wabi is the dignity of artlessness
and even deformity. When this artless, undeveloped elegance
is coupled with a certain uncultured antiquity or even the
illusion of this ancient attribute, Japanese artists use the
term "sabi" (literally "solitude" or
"lonesomeness") to describe it. In particular
instances, it can also indicate an effortless quality.
(Like the term "wabi," it is impossible to
characterize "sabi" directly. It can only be found
through genuine training in one of Japan's cultural arts.)
Despite difficulties of definition, we offer the following
working interpretation of sabi: it is not merely
"aloneness." It is an embracing of solitariness,
a relaxed and serene satisfaction in being solitary. An
evening spent trapped by a torrential rain, alone in a
cottage in the woods, enjoying the charged stillness and
a favorite book by a woodstove--that verges upon the
sensation of sabi.
Balanced imbalance, simplicity, artlessness, solitude,
great age--all of these relate to wabi and sabi, which in
turn are associated with the word shibumi (elegance)
and the related term shibui (elegant). Shibumi
connotes something astringent in taste, while shibui hints
at that which is natural or dignified. In kado, a flower
arrangement possesess the quality of shibumi when it
creates a sensation of coolness during a scorching summer
and warmth on a frigid day. Shibumi is quiet in elegance,
gentle and satisfying in a manner that is not shaped
exclusively by reasoning. It is the condition of being
"not too much," and exemplifies artistic restraint
in the highest sense.
Shibui describes the condition of being not gaudy (in color,
for instance), but ample in quality. Unpolished silver or
gold and the hue of ashes or bran can bring about a
restrained yet finished and peaceful shibui effect. The
subdued color scheme of an older woman's kimono, the spare
arrangement of a Japanese guestroom, the simple clothing
and implements in the tea ceremony--all can be described
as shibui.
Wabi, sabi, shibumi, and shibui are traditional Japanese
aesthetic concepts that we have combined for the sake of
convenience under the general heading of artlessness. These
ideas are most definitely presented in this book in a
Japanese framework, but at their deepest level they touch
something universal in the human heart that can relate to
people of all cultures.
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