Shikunshi is a term that honors the four species of orchids, bamboos, chrysanthemums,
and plums as sovereigns among plants and trees.
Also, a design or pattern using all of them.
Originally, in Chinese, a sovereign was a person who possessed virtue, learning, and courtesy,
and all literati aspired to be a sovereign.
The characteristics of the four types of plants (orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum, and plum)
are similar to those of a sovereign, and so they became the representative materials for literati paintings.