INTRODUCTION
shown such keen appreciation of the flower art's symbolism and beauty. All lovers of the art owe Mr. Conder endless gratitude for the information he has given us. But while Enshiu-Ryu, the school Mr. Conder has selected to describe, is the most striking of them all and has impressed its influence on all later schools, it is too unnatural in its lines to appeal to Western taste.
The lover of flowers in their natural state is startled rather than pleased by Enshiu-Ryu. In following the history of Ike-bana you will see that Enshiu-Ryu was created in a period when all art ran to decoration, so that it is more for design than for actual arrangements of flowers that Enshiu-Ryu is valuable. Its principles are so strong and clear that they have been followed by most of the other schools, but they became exaggerated to such an extent that the natural growth of the plant was lost sight of in extreme and unnatural curves. Mr. Conder as a scholar took up this school, as he himself states, for the
