--- title: "How to Paint Chrysanthemums in Sumi-e: Layered Petals, Leaves & Small Flowers" description: "How to paint chrysanthemums in sumi-e: petals built from the centre outwards, light and dark in each leaf, small flowers in outline and in wash. With a full painting by Tohun Kobayashi." image: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/v_N5jWnF09E/maxresdefault.jpg --- [Ensō円 相](https://www.sumieart.art/) [Article](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog?hsLang=en) [About](https://www.sumieart.art/en/about?hsLang=en) [JA](https://www.sumieart.art/blog/sumi-e-kiku-chrysanthemum-how-to) / [EN](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog/how-to-paint-chrysanthemum-sumi-e) [Article](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog) — Suiboku # How to Paint Chrysanthemums in Sumi-e: Layered Petals, Leaves & Small Flowers How to paint chrysanthemums in sumi-e: petals built from the centre outwards, light and dark in each leaf, small flowers in outline and in wash. With a full painting by Tohun Kobayashi. 2026.10.09 ![Chrysanthemums painted in sumi-e by Tohun Kobayashi: two large blooms in different tones of ink, leaves, bamboo stakes and pampas grass, with an inscription at the upper right](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/v_N5jWnF09E/maxresdefault.jpg) Chrysanthemums painted in sumi-e by Tohun Kobayashi: two large blooms in different tones of ink, leaves, bamboo stakes and pampas grass, with an inscription at the upper right In sumi-e, a chrysanthemum is built from the inside out. You start with the small petals at the centre of the bloom and work outwards, one petal at a time, letting the outer petals grow longer until they curve down. Then come the stem and leaves, a few small flowers, bamboo stakes and pampas grass, and finally an inscription that turns the study into a finished autumn painting. This guide follows a complete painting by Tohun Kobayashi, chapter by chapter, from the first petal to the inscribed work. The chrysanthemum is one of the [Four Gentlemen](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog/four-gentlemen-sumi-e) (四君子) — with plum, orchid and bamboo, the four classic flower subjects of East Asian ink painting — and the one associated with autumn, as [JAANUS](https://projects.mcah.columbia.edu/jaanus/record/shikunshi) notes. It was also the last of the four to become a subject of ink painting: according to the Japanese encyclopaedia [Sekai Daihyakka Jiten](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%9B%9B%E5%90%9B%E5%AD%90-72904), ink bamboo was painted from the late Tang dynasty, ink plum and ink orchid from the Song, and ink chrysanthemum only from the Ming. What you will learn: - How to build a large bloom from the centre outwards - How to put light and dark into a single leaf, and when to add the veins - Two ways to paint small chrysanthemums, in outline and in wash, and how they relate to kōroku and mokkotsu - How bamboo stakes and pampas grass finish an autumn composition - What the inscription 秋菊落英 輔體延壽 says, and why the chrysanthemum is the flower of long life ## How to Use This Guide | Watch the Full Painting and Follow the Chapters ### The video and its nine chapters In the video below, published on the Kokusai Bokuyukai channel, Tohun Kobayashi paints one autumn picture from start to finish: two large chrysanthemums built petal by petal, stems and leaves, small flowers in outline and in wash, bamboo stakes and pampas grass. It runs 12 minutes 44 seconds. The video description divides the painting into nine chapters. Each step heading in this guide shows the chapters it covers, so you can jump straight to the part you want to watch again. | Start | Chapter | Step in this guide | | --- | --- | --- | | 0:00 | First large bloom | Step 1 | | 2:10 | Second bloom | Step 1 | | 3:46 | Stems and leaves | Step 2 | | 5:16 | Small chrysanthemums | Step 3 | | 7:22 | Outlined flowers | Step 3 | | 8:22 | Flowers in wash | Step 3 | | 10:22 | Bamboo stakes | Step 4 | | 10:40 | Pampas grass | Step 4 | | 12:04 | Finishing and the completed work | Step 5 | ### The four points in the video description The notes under the video sum up the technique in four points: 1. The large blooms are built from the centre outwards, one petal at a time. 2. Each leaf carries light and dark within a single stroke, and the veins go in with dark ink before the leaf dries. 3. The small chrysanthemums are painted in two ways: outlined only, with a fine brush, or with the petals laid down as areas of ink and a dot at the centre. 4. The plumes of the pampas grass are made of short strokes layered with a fine brush. If you are new to sumi-e, [Sumi-e Painting for Beginners](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog/sumi-e-for-beginners) covers holding the brush and preparing ink, and the [essential tools guide](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog/sumi-e-essential-tools) covers brushes, ink and paper. ## Step 1 — Painting the Large Blooms | Petals from the Centre Outwards (0:00 / 2:10) ### Start with the small petals at the centre The video opens with a few small petals at the heart of the flower. From there, the petals are added one at a time, working outwards. The bloom is never filled in as a round shape and then decorated; it grows petal by petal, and the thin slivers of white paper left between the petals are what make the layers readable. The innermost petals are small and turned inwards. As the flower grows, each ring of petals is larger than the last, and the bloom begins to read as a full, rounded mass. ### Make the outer petals longer and let them curve down The outermost petals are long and curve downwards. The contrast between the tight little petals at the centre and the long, drooping petals at the edge is what gives a large chrysanthemum its weight. Once the flower is complete, a single line drops from it for the stem. [The Four Gentlemen of Ink Painting](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog/four-gentlemen-sumi-e) describes the chrysanthemum's appeal as the depth of its layered petals, and notes that varying the tone of the ink as you build from the centre outwards creates volume on a flat surface. This chapter shows that process from the first petal to the last. ### Paint the second bloom in a different tone The second large bloom goes in above and to the left of the first. It is built in the same order, but in darker ink. In the finished painting the two flowers are similar in shape but not in tone, so they do not sit side by side with equal weight. When you paint two of the same flower, consider changing the tone rather than the shape. ## Step 2 — Stems and Leaves | Light and Dark in One Stroke (3:46) ### Run the stem in a single line The stem is a single line drawn down from the flower. It runs long, and the leaves are placed along both sides of it. Drawing the stem without hesitation first makes it easier to decide where each leaf belongs. ### Lay each leaf with the side of the brush The leaves are laid on both sides of the stem as broad strokes made with the side of the brush. As the video description notes, each leaf carries light and dark within a single stroke: within one leaf there are darker and paler areas, which suggest its thickness and the way it turns. To get light and dark into one stroke, the ink and water in the brush have to be prepared before you begin. The exercises in [How to Practise Sumi-e Brushwork](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog/sumi-e-brushwork-practice-drills) are a good way to train this. ### Add the veins before the leaf dries While the leaf is still wet, the veins go in with dark ink. The point is to add them before the leaf dries rather than afterwards. Added to a wet leaf, the lines of the veins tend to blend into it instead of sitting on top of it. ## Step 3 — Small Chrysanthemums | Side View, Outline and Wash (5:16 / 7:22 / 8:22) ### Small flowers seen from the side (5:16) After the large blooms come the small ones. In the chapter starting at 5:16, small flowers seen from the side are painted in pale ink, with thin stems and small dark leaves. Next to the large blooms, which face the viewer, these side-on flowers add variety in direction. ### Outlined flowers (7:22) From 7:22, the small flowers are drawn in outline: outlined only, with a fine brush, as the video description puts it. The petals of a front-facing flower are drawn as thin lines, and the inside of each petal is left as white paper. ### Flowers in wash (8:22) From 8:22, the small flowers are painted in wash, with the petals laid down as areas of ink and a dot at the centre. A different brush is used, and the petals are placed as areas of ink radiating from the centre, with no outlines at all. ### Outline or area: kōroku and mokkotsu East Asian painting has names for these two ways of making a form. [JAANUS](https://projects.mcah.columbia.edu/jaanus/record/koroku0), the dictionary of Japanese art terms hosted by Columbia University, describes kōroku (鉤勒) as a technique that defines an object with a thin outline before colour is added, and notes that it is commonly used for paintings of flowers and grass. Its counterpart is [mokkotsu](https://projects.mcah.columbia.edu/jaanus/record/mokkotsu) (没骨), literally "boneless", in which objects are rendered without an outline; JAANUS counts the two as the primary techniques of painting, and notes that the term mokkotsu is also commonly used for ink renderings without outlines. The video description does not use these terms, but the outlined flowers and the flowers in wash are a good way to compare the two approaches. Drawn in outline, the small flowers look light and open; laid down as areas of ink, the petals gain body. For more on painting without outlines, see [What Is Mokkotsu?](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog/mokkotsu-boneless-painting-technique) Read next - [What Is Mokkotsu?](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog/mokkotsu-boneless-painting-technique)The boneless technique, and how it differs from kōroku - [The Four Gentlemen of Ink Painting](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog/four-gentlemen-sumi-e)Why plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum are classic sumi-e subjects - [Autumn Motifs in Sumi-e](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog/autumn-sumi-e-chestnut-bird-bellflower)Chestnuts with a small bird, and the bellflower ## Step 4 — Bamboo Stakes and Pampas Grass | Finishing the Autumn Scene (10:22 / 10:40) ### Bamboo stakes (10:22) With the chrysanthemums finished, bamboo stakes are added: vertical lines in pale ink, with nodes along their length. For how to paint bamboo nodes, see [How to Paint Bamboo in Sumi-e](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog/how-to-paint-bamboo-sumi-e-1). ### Pampas grass (10:40) Next comes the pampas grass: a thin stem drawn in an arc, with a plume at its end. As the video description says, the plumes are made of short strokes layered with a fine brush. Built up a little at a time, the short strokes give the grass its lightness. ### Keep the supporting elements paler than the flowers In the finished painting, the bamboo stakes and the pampas grass are paler than the chrysanthemums, so the large blooms stay in front. If the supporting elements are painted as dark as the main subject, the eye has nowhere to settle. For more autumn subjects in ink, [Autumn Motifs in Sumi-e](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog/autumn-sumi-e-chestnut-bird-bellflower) looks at chestnuts with a small bird, and the bellflower. ## Step 5 — The Inscription | 秋菊落英 輔體延壽 and the Flower of Long Life (12:04) ### What an inscription is In the finished work, an inscription runs down the upper right. An inscription (san, 賛) is a poem or text written on a painting. China and Japan long held that calligraphy and painting belong together, and Japanese ink paintings of the Kamakura and Muromachi periods often carry inscriptions ([Nihon Daihyakka Zensho, "gasan"](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E7%94%BB%E8%B3%9B-461846)). This one reads 秋菊落英 輔體延壽. In the channel's own English description, it "says that the fallen petals of autumn chrysanthemums support the body and lengthen life". Each half comes from a classical Chinese text. ### "The fallen petals of autumn chrysanthemums": Qu Yuan's Li Sao The first half, 秋菊落英, comes from the Li Sao (離騷), the long poem by [Qu Yuan](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%B1%88%E5%8E%9F-55538) (屈原), a statesman and poet of the state of Chu in the Warring States period. The Li Sao is the best-known work in the Chuci, the Songs of the South. One of its lines reads 夕餐秋菊之落英 ([original text on Wikisource](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E9%9B%A2%E9%A8%B7)): in the evening, I eat the fallen petals of autumn chrysanthemums. ### "Support the body and lengthen life": Cao Pi's letter The second half, 輔體延壽, draws on a letter by [Cao Pi](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%9B%B9%E4%B8%95-89640) (曹丕, 187–226), the first emperor of the Wei dynasty, known after his death as Emperor Wen. He wrote it to [Zhong Yao](https://kotobank.jp/word/%E9%8D%BE%E7%B9%87-79937) (鍾繇), a Wei statesman remembered as a calligrapher. The letter survives in the classical compendium Yiwen Leiju (藝文類聚), volume 4, under the ninth day of the ninth month ([original text on Wikisource](https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E8%97%9D%E6%96%87%E9%A1%9E%E8%81%9A/%E5%8D%B7004)). After describing the feast of that day, and the chrysanthemum flourishing alone in that season, Cao Pi recalls that Qu Ping (Qu Yuan's personal name) longed to eat the fallen petals of autumn chrysanthemums, and goes on: 輔體延年、莫斯之貴, for supporting the body and lengthening one's years, nothing is more precious. The inscription changes 年 (years) to 壽 (long life). ### The Double Ninth and chrysanthemum wine The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is the Double Ninth, a festival of Chinese origin. According to [Japan Search](https://jpsearch.go.jp/en/gallery/ndl-Bw0oMwJB0), people in China drank wine steeped with chrysanthemum flowers on that day, believing it would bring long life and protect them from disaster. In Japan it became an annual court event in the Heian period, when the emperor and courtiers wrote poetry and drank chrysanthemum sake. Known in Japan as Chōyō (重陽), the Chrysanthemum Festival, it is one of the five seasonal festivals (sekku) that came from China, and it celebrates the flower's properties for good health and long life ([nippon.com](https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01464/)). ### The chrysanthemum in Japan today The chrysanthemum is also the emblem of Japan's imperial family. As [nippon.com](https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01464/) notes, a crest of 16 double petals became the official imperial crest in the Meiji period, and a 16-petal chrysanthemum appears on Japanese passports. In a painting like this one, though, it is the older meaning that the inscription carries: the flower of autumn, and the flower of long life. [The Four Gentlemen of Ink Painting](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog/four-gentlemen-sumi-e) explains why it stands with plum, orchid and bamboo. ## Putting It All Together: Large Blooms → Stems and Leaves → Small Flowers → Stakes and Grass → Inscription 1. Build each large bloom from the small petals at the centre outwards, one petal at a time, and let the longer outer petals curve down. 2. Paint the second bloom in a different tone from the first. 3. Run the stem in a single line, lay each leaf with light and dark in one stroke, and add the veins in dark ink before it dries. 4. Add the small flowers: some seen from the side, some in outline, some in wash. 5. Add bamboo stakes and pampas grass in paler ink, so that they support the main blooms. 6. Finish with an inscription. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How do you paint chrysanthemum petals in sumi-e? Start with the small petals at the centre and work outwards, one petal at a time. Make the outer petals longer and let them curve down; this gives a large chrysanthemum its rounded shape and its weight. ### My petals blur into one blob. What am I doing wrong? Place the petals one by one rather than filling in the shape, and leave thin slivers of white paper between them. Vary the length and direction of the outer petals so that the layers stay readable. If the ink spreads too far, try again with less water in the brush. ### What is the difference between outlined and wash chrysanthemums? An outlined flower is drawn in line, with the inside left white; a flower in wash is laid down as areas of ink without outlines. In the terms JAANUS uses, the first is close to kōroku (鉤勒), which defines a form with a thin outline, and the second to mokkotsu (没骨), the boneless technique. The video lets you compare the two kinds of small flower. ### How do I get light and dark into a single leaf? Lay the leaf in one stroke with the side of the brush so that it carries both darker and paler areas, then add the veins in dark ink before it dries. Prepare the ink and water in the brush before you start; brushwork drills are a good way to practise this. ### What is the order of the Four Gentlemen? There is no fixed order, and dictionaries list them differently. JAANUS gives their usual seasonal associations: plum with winter, orchid with spring, bamboo with summer and chrysanthemum with autumn. ### What does the chrysanthemum symbolise in Japan? It is an autumn flower long associated with long life: on the Double Ninth, the Heian court wrote poetry and drank chrysanthemum sake. It is also the emblem of the imperial family, and a 16-petal chrysanthemum appears on Japanese passports. ### Why is the chrysanthemum a symbol of long life? In China people drank wine steeped with chrysanthemum flowers on the ninth day of the ninth month, believing it would bring long life. The inscription in the video, 秋菊落英 輔體延壽, draws on Qu Yuan's Li Sao and a letter by Cao Pi that link the flower to a longer life. ### Should beginners start with large or small chrysanthemums? There is no rule. One approach is to start with outlined small flowers to learn the shape and direction of the petals, move on to small flowers in wash, and then try the large blooms, which have more petals and ask you to manage both the layering and the tone. ## Continue Your Sumi-e Practice Each of the Four Gentlemen trains something different. Bamboo is about straight lines and pressure ([How to Paint Bamboo in Sumi-e](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog/how-to-paint-bamboo-sumi-e-1)); orchid is about the long curve pulled in one breath ([How to Paint Orchid in Sumi-e](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog/how-to-paint-orchid-sumi-e)); the chrysanthemum is about layering petals and choosing between line and area. To see how the four fit together, read [The Four Gentlemen of Ink Painting](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog/four-gentlemen-sumi-e). For the technique of painting without outlines, see [What Is Mokkotsu?](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog/mokkotsu-boneless-painting-technique) ## RelatedArticle ### [![Hokusai's Daily Exorcisms: The Lions He Painted Almost Every Morning in His Eighties](https://www.sumieart.art/hubfs/93744.LL.jpg) Suiboku / Japanese Art / Sumie Hokusai's Daily Exorcisms: The Lions He Painted Almost Every Morning in His Eighties](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog/hokusai-daily-exorcisms) ### [![What Is Mōrōtai? Hishida Shunsō and the Hazy Style of Nihonga Without Outlines](https://www.sumieart.art/hubfs/featured_1200x630.jpg) Suiboku / Japanese Art / Sumie What Is Mōrōtai? Hishida Shunsō and the Hazy Style of Nihonga Without Outlines](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog/hishida-shunso-morotai) ### [![What Is Mokkotsu? The Boneless Technique and How It Differs from Kōroku](https://www.sumieart.art/hubfs/thumbnail-kabu.jpg) Suiboku / Japanese Art / Sumie What Is Mokkotsu? The Boneless Technique and How It Differs from Kōroku](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog/mokkotsu-boneless-painting-technique) ![Jin](https://www.sumieart.art/hubfs/IMG_3607-2.jpg) Jin Sumi-e Artist Jin is a sumi-e artist and calligrapher whose practice brings Western calligraphy into dialogue with the Japanese tradition of ink painting. In Jin's work, letterforms, brushed lines, and ma — the resonant negative space at the heart of sumi-e — come together in compositions that speak across cultures. This East–West synthesis grounds an ongoing exploration of artistic possibilities that reach beyond cultural boundaries. Jin currently serves as a Director of the International Association of SUMI, and was recently honored with the Special Jury Award — the Arisumi Mitamura Prize — at Art Beyond Boundaries. Rooted in tradition yet attentive to the present, Jin continues to share a contemporary vision of sumi-e with audiences around the world. Ensō A bilingual platform dedicated to the aesthetic sensibility of Japan through the art of ink painting. [Article](https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog?hsLang=en) [About](https://www.sumieart.art/en/about?hsLang=en) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Jin", "url" : "https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog/author/jin-e" }, "dateModified" : "2026-10-08T23:36:55.352Z", "datePublished" : "2026-10-08T23:36:55.000Z", "headline" : "How to Paint Chrysanthemums in Sumi-e: Layered Petals, Leaves & Small Flowers", "image" : [ "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/v_N5jWnF09E/maxresdefault.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.sumieart.art/en/blog/how-to-paint-chrysanthemum-sumi-e", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject" } } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "Article", "about" : { "@type" : "Thing", "name" : "Painting chrysanthemums in sumi-e" }, "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Jin", "url" : "https://www.sumieart.art/en/about" }, "dateModified" : "2026-10-09", "datePublished" : "2026-10-09", "description" : "How to paint chrysanthemums in sumi-e: petals built from the centre outwards, light and dark in each leaf, small flowers in outline and in wash. 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Make the outer petals longer and let them curve down, leaving thin slivers of white paper between the petals so that the layers stay readable. Paint the second bloom in a different tone from the first.", "url" : "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_N5jWnF09E&t=0s" }, { "@type" : "HowToStep", "name" : "Paint the stems and leaves", "position" : 2, "text" : "Run the stem in a single line. Lay each leaf on either side of it with the side of the brush, so that the leaf carries light and dark within a single stroke, and add the veins in dark ink before the leaf dries.", "url" : "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_N5jWnF09E&t=226s" }, { "@type" : "HowToStep", "name" : "Add the small chrysanthemums", "position" : 3, "text" : "Add small flowers seen from the side in pale ink, then small flowers in outline, drawn as line with the inside left white, and small flowers in wash, with the petals laid down as areas of ink and a dot at the centre.", "url" : "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_N5jWnF09E&t=316s" }, { "@type" : "HowToStep", "name" : "Add bamboo stakes and pampas grass", "position" : 4, "text" : "Add bamboo stakes as pale vertical lines with nodes, and pampas grass as an arching stem with plumes of short strokes layered with a fine brush. Keep them paler than the chrysanthemums so that the large blooms stay in front.", "url" : "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_N5jWnF09E&t=622s" }, { "@type" : "HowToStep", "name" : "Finish with an inscription", "position" : 5, "text" : "Look over the whole painting, finish it, and add an inscription. The inscription in the demonstration reads 秋菊落英 輔體延壽: the fallen petals of autumn chrysanthemums support the body and lengthen life.", "url" : "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_N5jWnF09E&t=724s" } ], "supply" : [ { "@type" : "HowToSupply", "name" : "Ink" }, { "@type" : "HowToSupply", "name" : "Paper" } ], "tool" : [ { "@type" : "HowToTool", "name" : "Brush" } ] } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "FAQPage", "mainEntity" : [ { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Start with the small petals at the centre and work outwards, one petal at a time. Make the outer petals longer and let them curve down; this gives a large chrysanthemum its rounded shape and its weight." }, "name" : "How do you paint chrysanthemum petals in sumi-e?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Place the petals one by one rather than filling in the shape, and leave thin slivers of white paper between them. Vary the length and direction of the outer petals so that the layers stay readable. If the ink spreads too far, try again with less water in the brush." }, "name" : "My petals blur into one blob. What am I doing wrong?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "An outlined flower is drawn in line, with the inside left white; a flower in wash is laid down as areas of ink without outlines. In the terms JAANUS uses, the first is close to kōroku (鉤勒), which defines a form with a thin outline, and the second to mokkotsu (没骨), the boneless technique. The video lets you compare the two kinds of small flower." }, "name" : "What is the difference between outlined and wash chrysanthemums?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "Lay the leaf in one stroke with the side of the brush so that it carries both darker and paler areas, then add the veins in dark ink before it dries. Prepare the ink and water in the brush before you start; brushwork drills are a good way to practise this." }, "name" : "How do I get light and dark into a single leaf?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "There is no fixed order, and dictionaries list them differently. JAANUS gives their usual seasonal associations: plum with winter, orchid with spring, bamboo with summer and chrysanthemum with autumn." }, "name" : "What is the order of the Four Gentlemen?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "It is an autumn flower long associated with long life: on the Double Ninth, the Heian court wrote poetry and drank chrysanthemum sake. It is also the emblem of the imperial family, and a 16-petal chrysanthemum appears on Japanese passports." }, "name" : "What does the chrysanthemum symbolise in Japan?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "In China people drank wine steeped with chrysanthemum flowers on the ninth day of the ninth month, believing it would bring long life. The inscription in the video, 秋菊落英 輔體延壽, draws on Qu Yuan's Li Sao and a letter by Cao Pi that link the flower to a longer life." }, "name" : "Why is the chrysanthemum a symbol of long life?" }, { "@type" : "Question", "acceptedAnswer" : { "@type" : "Answer", "text" : "There is no rule. One approach is to start with outlined small flowers to learn the shape and direction of the petals, move on to small flowers in wash, and then try the large blooms, which have more petals and ask you to manage both the layering and the tone." }, "name" : "Should beginners start with large or small chrysanthemums?" } ] } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "VideoObject", "contentUrl" : "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_N5jWnF09E", "description" : "A complete sumi-e painting of autumn chrysanthemums by Tohun Kobayashi: two large blooms built petal by petal, stems and leaves, small chrysanthemums in outline and in wash, bamboo stakes and pampas grass, finished with an inscription.", "duration" : "PT12M44S", "embedUrl" : "https://www.youtube.com/embed/v_N5jWnF09E", "hasPart" : [ { "@type" : "Clip", "endOffset" : 130, "name" : "First large bloom", "startOffset" : 0, "url" : "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_N5jWnF09E&t=0s" }, { "@type" : "Clip", "endOffset" : 226, "name" : "Second bloom", "startOffset" : 130, "url" : "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_N5jWnF09E&t=130s" }, { "@type" : "Clip", "endOffset" : 316, "name" : "Stems and leaves", "startOffset" : 226, "url" : "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_N5jWnF09E&t=226s" }, { "@type" : "Clip", "endOffset" : 442, "name" : "Small chrysanthemums", "startOffset" : 316, "url" : "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_N5jWnF09E&t=316s" }, { "@type" : "Clip", "endOffset" : 502, "name" : "Outlined flowers", "startOffset" : 442, "url" : "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_N5jWnF09E&t=442s" }, { "@type" : "Clip", "endOffset" : 622, "name" : "Flowers in wash", "startOffset" : 502, "url" : "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_N5jWnF09E&t=502s" }, { "@type" : "Clip", "endOffset" : 640, "name" : "Bamboo stakes", "startOffset" : 622, "url" : "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_N5jWnF09E&t=622s" }, { "@type" : "Clip", "endOffset" : 724, "name" : "Pampas grass", "startOffset" : 640, "url" : "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_N5jWnF09E&t=640s" }, { "@type" : "Clip", "endOffset" : 764, "name" : "Finishing and the completed work", "startOffset" : 724, "url" : "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_N5jWnF09E&t=724s" } ], "inLanguage" : "en", "name" : "Sumi-e: Chrysanthemums in Japanese Ink Painting by Tohun Kobayashi ｜小林東雲が水墨画で描く菊", "thumbnailUrl" : "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/v_N5jWnF09E/maxresdefault.jpg", "uploadDate" : "2026-10-05T02:00:02-07:00" } ```