Origami, a brief history

The art of origami is generally thought originally the Japan during the 17th century.

It is difficult to say exactly where and when origami came because the paper breaks down relatively quickly makes it difficult to keep records. The form of art probably started in China around the first century of our era and arrived in the Japan around the sixth century of our era, where he eventually became a cultural tradition.

Initially due to the fact that the document was dear origami was a form of art benefits from the rich and has been used for practical purposes such as the folding of the letters. Samurai would have given each other charm of good chance to paper shortly known as noshi and paper butterflies were folded for Shinto weddings.

During the Edo period (1600-1868) new methods have been developed to produce mass effectively papers. This is when the origami began to fully develop in the art we know today.

Origami instructions have been issued and transmitted person to person, and no diagrams have been written until 1797, when a book called Senbazuru Orikata (how to fold 1000 cranes) was published. In Japanese mythology, the crane was considered a sacred bird. As the origami has gained popularity, the custom that would be granted a wish or gain good luck folding 1000 cranes developed.

Once the other collections of diagrams began publishing origami was officially given a name.

Origami name comes from the Japanese word oru meaning folds and the Japanese word for paper, kami. Assemble the two gives the word origami.

Modern origami has developed in the 1900s by Akira Yoshizawa, who is generally regarded as the Grandmaster of origami. Akira Yoshizawa developed the wet fold technique which involved absorbing paper before folding to give more filled models a carved and three-dimensional look. In 1989, he had developed models of more than 50,000 and published 18 books.

During the 1980s, several files have begun to examine the mathematical properties of origami. With the addition of software, it was possible to create incredibly complex models such as those you see today.

Interestingly enough, the Japan is not the only country with a history rich origami. The art form was also discovered by the moors of Africa.

While Japanese origami is famous for the creation of representations of animals, Islamic traditions do not allow artists to create representations of human beings live. This was based on the second commandment of the ten commandments refusing the creation of graven images.

The Moors rather explores mathematics of origami and created pavements and complex forms.

When the Moors invaded the Spain in the 8th century, they bring with them origami, and shortly after that he began to spread throughout Europe.

If you would like to learn more about origami please visit the Ultimate Origami resource site for a vast wealth of resources of origami.