Bonsais

A bonsai is a tree or shrub grown in a container. Though seldom exceeding 70 cm in height, bonsai makes us believe when we look at it that here is a tree just as it grows in nature. The word 'bonsai' is formed from two words, 'bon' meaning tray or dish and 'sai' meaning tree or plant, so its literal translation is 'tree planted in a dish'. A bonsai is a tree-a miniaturized tree-grown in a dish and resembling in all respects its large counterpart in nature.

The art of bonsai was developed in the Far East where it is considered an expression of the harmony between heaven and earth, Man and nature. Bonsai spiritual foundations lie in the Eastern philosophy of life which strives after harmony between man and nature-a harmony which becomes apparent when empathy is achieved with the process of all growth and development. There could surely be no more fitting example of this than the cultivation of bonsai.

The lover of bonsai will take time to care for and examine his trees. Through them bonsai lover experiences anew the rhythm of the seasons, and nurtures within himself the power of creativity as he shapes and miniaturizes his little trees. Cultivating a bonsai tree requires much care and attention, but as its reward it brings a tranquility to the mind, a feeling of being refreshed and of inner composure.

No one can fail to be enchanted by these perfect little trees- bonsai - growing in dishes and resembling in every detail except size trees growing in the wild. A bit of skill is needed to shape and tend bonsai, but anyone who has had luck with other plants will get a great deal of pleasure from his bonsai. The Chinese were the first to plant bonsai, and even today bonsai is part of Chinese culture. Bonsai has a place in every Chinese community, even outside China itself, in places like Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Chinese bonsai masters of today still make a distinction between 'pun-sai' and 'pun-ching'. For many the word 'pen-jing' is taken to mean both forms of bonsai. The word 'pun-sai' is made up of the same characters as the Japanese word 'bonsai', and means a tree planted in a container without any landscape, while 'pun-ching' means a tree that is planted in a container or on a tray and landscaped. The art of pun-ching dates far back to the early period of the Han dynasty, about 206 BC-AD 220, when Chinese landscape artists started to design miniature versions of the already famous artificial rock gardens. According to legend Jiang-feng was endowed with a magic power to conjure up on a dish tiny landscapes complete with rocks, mountains, trees, rivers, houses, people and animals.

At about the same time as the mention of pun-ching, or miniature landscapes with rocks and trees, a form still very popular in China today, we find the first reference to pun-sai during the Ch'in dynasty (221-206 BC): it was Ton Guen-ming; a famous poet and high- ranking official, who, having grown weary of affairs of state, retired to a peaceful country living where he began to cultivate chrysanthemums in pots. This may have been the beginning of pot plants, but it was to lead on to the miniaturization of trees. Just 200 years later in paintings from the T' ang period we find pines, cypresses, plum trees, and bamboos-all growing in dishes.

Obtaining the bonsai Taking care of your bonsai Miniature landscapes Bonsai trees Shaping your bonsai Ageing the bonsai

During the period of peace known as the Ch'ing dynasty (AD 1644-1911) both pun-ching and pun-sai became a hobby not only of the aristocracy but of all strata of society in China.

But it was not the Chinese who introduced the art of bonsai to the West; it was the Japanese, first in Paris at the World Fair of 1878, and subsequently in London in 1909. Buddhist monks probably took bonsai to Japan in the tenth and eleventh centuries. For them they were religious objects, 'verdant stairways leading to Heaven', thus a connection between God and mankind.

During the Yuan dynasty (AD 1280-1368) Japanese government ministers and merchants brought home bonsai as presents from China and we know of Chu Shun-sui, a Chinese official, who, around 1644, fled from the rule of the Manchus to Japan, taking with him his entire collection of bonsai literature. It was his specialist knowledge that contributed decisively to the spread of the art of bonsai in Japan. Around this time Japan was beginning to establish its own form of bonsai cultivation, an art which was at first the preserve of the Japanese aristocracy, the Samurai, and which only at the end of the last century became a hobby for all.