Bonsai is a Japanese art form using miniature trees grown in containers. Similar practices exist in other cultures, including the Chinese tradition of ‘penjing’ and the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese ‘hòn non bộ’. The Japanese tradition dates back over a thousand years, and has evolved its own unique aesthetics and terminology.
Construction:
A bonsai is created beginning with a specimen of source material. This may be a cutting, seedling, or small tree of a species suitable for bonsai development. Bonsai can be created from nearly any perennial woody-stemmed tree or shrub species which produces true branches and can be cultivated to remain small through pot confinement with crown and root pruning. Some species are popular as bonsai material because they have characteristics, such as small leaves or needles, that make them appropriate for the compact visual scope of bonsai. When the candidate bonsai nears it's planned final size it is planted in a ceramic bonsai pot. From that point forward, its growth is restricted by the pot environment. Several times a year, the bonsai is shaped to limit growth, redistribute foliar vigor to areas requiring further development, and meet the artist's detailed design.
The practice of bonsai is sometimes confused with dwarfing, but dwarfing more accurately refers to research and creation of plant cultivars that are permanent, genetic miniatures of existing species. Bonsai does not require genetically dwarfed trees, but rather depends on growing small trees from regular stock and seeds. Bonsai uses cultivation techniques like pruning, root reduction, potting, defoliation, and grafting to produce small trees that mimic the shape and style of mature, full-sized trees.
History and cultural significance:
Container-grown plants, including trees and many other plant types, have a history stretching back at least to the early times of Egyptian culture.[5] However, the lineage of bonsai derives directly from the Chinese penjing. Saigyo Monogatari Emaki was the earliest known scroll to depict dwarfed potted trees in Japan. It dates from 1195, although some sources say this dates from 1250. From the year 1309, wooden tray and dish-like pots with dwarf landscapes on modern-looking wooden shelf/benches are shown in the Kasuga-gongen-genki scroll. These novelties show off the owner's wealth and were probably exotics imported from China. Bonseki no Fu (Tribute to Bonseki) written by celebrated priest and master of Chinese poetry, Kokan Shiren (1278–1346), outlined the aesthetic principles for what would be termed bonsai, bonseki and garden architecture itself. At first, the Japanese used miniaturized trees grown in containers to decorate their homes and gardens. Bonsai dating to the 17th century have survived to the present. One of the oldest-known living bonsai trees, considered one of the National Treasures of Japan, is in the Tokyo Imperial Palace collection. A five-needle pine (Pinus pentaphylla var. negishi) known as Sandai-Shogun-No Matsu is documented as having been cared for by Tokugawa Iemitsu. The tree is considered to be at least 500 years old and was first trained as a bonsai by, at latest, the year 1610.
Beginning in the 1300s, bonsai became the focus of many dramatic plays and literature, and by the end of the 18th century, bonsai cultivation was quite widespread and had begun to interest the public. In the Tenmei era (1781–88), an exhibit of traditional dwarf potted pines began to be held every year in Kyoto. Connoisseurs from five provinces and neighboring areas would bring one or two plants each to the show in order to submit them to visitors for ranking. In 1829, a significant book that first established classical bonsai art, Somoku Kinyo Shu (A Colorful Collection of Trees and Plants/Collection of tree leaves), was published. It includes the basic criteria for the ideal form of the classical pine bonsai, in detail and with illustrations.
On October 13, 1868, the Meiji Emperor moved to his new capital in Tokyo. Bonsai were displayed both inside and outside Meiji Palace, where they have since remained important in affairs of the Palace. Bonsai placed in the grand setting of the Imperial Palace had to be "Giant Bonsai," large enough to fill the grand space. By the late 1860s, thick combed and wetted hemp fibers were used to roughly shape the trunk and branches of miniature trees by pulling and tying them. The process was tedious and bothersome, and the final product was unsightly. Tips of branches would only be opened flat. Long, wavy-branched tako (octopus) style trees were mass-produced and designed in the [renamed capital] Tokyo for the increasing foreign trade while the more subtle and delicate bunjin-style trees designed in Kyoto and Osaka were for use in Japan.
Through the later 19th century, Japanese participation in various international exhibitions introduced many in the U.S. and Europe to dwarf potted trees. Specimens from the displays went into Western hands following the closing of the fairs. Japanese immigrants to the U.S. West Coast and Hawaii Territory brought plants and cultivation experience with them. Export nurseries, most notably the Yokohama Gardeners Association, provided increasingly good quality dwarf potted trees for Americans and Europeans.
The first issue of Bonsai magazine was published in 1921 by Norio Kobayashi (1889–1972). This influential periodical would run for 518 consecutive issues. Copper wire was being extensively used by this time. Major changes to a tree's shape could now be accomplished with wiring. Trees could be precisely and aesthetically wired, and then sold immediately. A greater number of both collected and nursery trees could now be trained for bonsai. The number of hobbyists increased due to the increased ability to style with wire, but there was also an increase in damaged or scarred trees.
Throughout 1945, many old trees were the smallest casualties of the spring and summer napalm bombing of Tokyo (esp. March 9/10) and sixty-six other cities. Gardeners protected the Imperial collection trees from fire by pouring water over them after the Palace had been bombed on May 25/26. Following the surrender of Japan, there began the post-war re-evaluation and reviving of damaged collections of trees — including the Imperial - which would continue for over a decade as Japan was rebuilt. During the Allied Occupation of Japan (through 1952) U.S. officers and their wives could take courses in bonsai, bonkei, ikebana, and other traditional arts and crafts as arranged by General MacArthur's headquarters. Many of the older and limited varieties of trees were no longer available, and the bonsai considered in fashion changed partly because of this shortage. Copper wire now largely replaced ordinary iron wire for shaping the better trees, but the latter still would be used for mass-produced commercial bonsai.
In 1967 the first group of Westerners studied at an Ōmiya nursery. Returning to the U.S. these people established the American Bonsai Society. The First World Bonsai Convention was held in Osaka during the World Bonsai and Suiseki Exhibition in 1980. Nine years later, the first World Bonsai Convention was held in Omiya and the World Bonsai Friendship Federation (WBFF) was inaugurated. These conventions attracted several hundreds of participants from dozens of countries and have since been held every four years at different locations around the globe. There are over twelve hundred books on bonsai and the related arts in at least twenty-six languages available in over ninety countries and territories. A few dozen magazines in over thirteen languages are in print. Several score of club newsletters are available on-line, and there are at least that many discussion forums and blogs. Educational videos and just the appearance of dwarf potted trees in films and on television reach a wide audience. There are perhaps hundreds of thousands of enthusiasts in over a thousand clubs and associations worldwide, as well as an unknown number of unassociated hobbyists. Plant material from every location is being trained into bonsai and displayed at local, regional, national, and international conventions and exhibitions for enthusiasts and the general public.
Along with all of that information, here is one of the most interesting things I've found this week, also pertaining to the world of bugs. Not slugs this time, but bees. A rare bee just discovered in the Middle East. The Osmia avoseta is a solitary bee that constructs its nest from petals creating a cocoon-like dwelling for its larvae. "It's not common for bees to use parts of plants for nests," says Dr. Jerome Rozen of the American Museum of Natural History of the unexpected find. These chambers, constructed of mud and potpourri, are barely over a half-inch long and house only one egg. The mom collects pollen and nectar which she transports back in her digestive tract. After depositing the mixture at the bottom of the cocoon, she then lays the egg right on top of it.
As it turns out, a vast majority of the world's 20,000 bee species are solitary creatures much like the O. avosetta. It is one female who builds just a few nests for her eggs.
Well, There you have it. I should be all caught up with posts now. Hope you've enjoyed. Thank you & Goodnight.
T
No comments:
Post a Comment