Language of the Flowers: Master tells secrets of Chinese traditional floral arranging

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Traditional floral arranging dates back almost 2,000 years in China. One of its best known practitioners today is in her 80s, having spent much of her life teaching the subtle skills and patterns. CGTN's Sun Ye caught up with her earlier.

Floral arrangement master Wang Lianying has spent half a century in the trade.

She passes everything she knows about the Chinese art onto her disciples. Bamboo is for gentlemen's integrity. Orchids show virtue. Pine needles symbolize tenacity. And the set image is distinctly from China.

WANG LIANYING "You can tell a traditional Chinese arrangement from others easily. We choreograph them of course, but they all turn out looking natural. When manicuring one, we go with its flow. No human intervention detected. That's the Chinese concept: man and heaven are one."

The craft reportedly has some 2,000 years behind it. And Wang says it has a lot in common with poetry.

WANG LIANYING "It's not just a pastime. Like all other arts, the floral arrangement is expressive. We let flowers tell our feelings, resolutions, hopes and dreams."

Her brand of floral talk: simplicity and elegance, developed over time. Wang took up the craft as a college student already well-versed in the language of flowers. And now in her eighties, she doesn't want to stop.

WANG LIANYING "I thought about retirement, I did. But I want to tell more people about our craft. I want to write more books about it. I have untreatable glaucoma. And I'm really trying to save whatever sight I still have for the art."

Traditional Chinese floral arrangement is now recognized and treasured at the national level. And a small group of veterans have rallied behind Wang and her passion.

LIANG QINZHANG "It's over 30 years now since I started working with Master Wang, and still l find there is no end in sight for our practices. You have to learn consistently, from literature to music, to improve your understanding."

So their musings and voices told through flowers, can be better heard. SY, CGTN, BJ.