Commentary

About Man Lung Penjing, Part 2
Extracted from Man Lung Artistic Pot Plants, 1967

by Wu Yee Sun

SHAPING AND ARRANGEMENT

A pot of beautiful bonsai is the result of the grower's skillful planning and correct cultivation methods which are the result of years of experience. Besides possessing a basic knowledge of horticulture, the grower must have literary taste as well as a high degree of patience. Also he has to be well read in the theory and practice of art. He has to study and observe Nature and good paintings. In this way he will be able to achieve originality.

The most important thing in bonsai is the style. We know that the cultivation of bonsai must first be based on the natural qualities of the plant and that artificial training should be kept to a minimum. Nature endows each species with special qualities and too much artificial shaping would ruin the tree. For example, one cannot apply the age-old strength of the pine or the cypress to the delicate beauty of the maple or the bamboo. The Glyptostrobus pensilis which is often found near the paddy fields in Canton, the fir tree growing on the hill, and the Bombax malabaricum (wood cotton tree) which grows abundantly in Hong Kong, are plants which stand tall and upright against the sky and cannot be artificially trained as dwarfed trees with an ancient appearance or as a cascade plant, because this will be against Nature and the result, instead of an artistic pot plant, would be something grotesque and ugly. For this reason, before deciding upon the style and arrangement of a plant, the grower must first study the species and in the process of dwarfing retain its good points and get rid of the bad, just as the experienced artist who while preserving the characteristics of the obJect he paints brings out its best with masterly strokes of his brush.

Before applying the pruning-shears the grower has to study very carefully the subject on hand or otherwise he will be like the careless tailor who ruins his material by the first mistaken cut of his scissors. The highest aims of a grower is to produce a bonsai having the qualities of a picture which conforms to Nature. Although there are numerous variations of style, we may group them under two main classes, i.e. those with an ancient appearance and those with a graceful appearance. The styles may also be classified as follows:

  1. single-tree
  2. two-tree
  3. multiple-trunk on one stump
  4. the forest style
  5. cascade plant
  6. semicascade plant
  7. overlooking-the-water style
  8. the reclining style
  9. the branch-out style
  10. the dropping style
  11. mother-with-son style
  12. rock-clinging style.

With regard to rock-clinging bonsai, it must be noted that the rock used must be a suitable one, and the roots of the plant should be embedded firmly in the cracks of the rock to give the impression of an ancient tree growing out of the rock.

METHOD OF CULTlVATION

Young plants taken from the hills or nurseries would best be grown first in the ground in order that they may get nourishment from the earth for quicker growth. When planting in the ground the best thing to do is to insert in the soil some pieces of tile on which the plants will be placed. This is to make sure that the roots will grow evenly and will not penetrate too deep into the soil for this will make it difficult to remove the plants and will also harm the roots. When ready, the plants should be taken out of the soil and potted, and the tree pruned to get rid of undesired branches. In order to give the branches strength and an ancient appearance, the method known as "Grow and Clip" should be employed; when the first section of a branch is strong enough, it should be clipped so that side-branches will grow and this process is repeated until a beautiful bonsai with an ancient appearance results. It is important to bear in mind that unless extremely necessary, avoid using iron wires to bend the tree and branches to the required shape. The method of "Grow and CIip" is used by the "Lingnan School"; Messrs. Wu York Yu, Liu Fei Yat, Hung Tai Chor, Mok Man Fu, Buddhist Monk So-yan, Luk Hok Ming, Tsui Hung Pui, Chan Kam Tak, Yu Shun Nam, Tang Heung Hoi, Wong Kam, Chan Tak Cheung, Kong Chee, Lee Shu Chik, Cheung Sui To and Jim Ting Bor are outstanding followers of this School.

THE IMPORTANCE OF HARMONY BETWEEN BONSAI, CONTAINER AND MATCHING TABLE

The choice of containers is of great importance. It may be likened to the clothes one wears, if the clothes do not fit the person, then no matter how nice the quality of the cloth or how handsome the person is, the result will be bad. The same with bonsai in their relation to containers. There are many kinds of containers of different colours, sizes and shapes. The colour of the containers should be in harmony with that of the dwarfed tree it holds. For example, if a red maple tree is placed in a red-colour container or a white plum in a white container, or the ancient pine in a dark colour container, they are all unsuitably matched and this will do much to minimize the effect of artistic pot plants. And so with the shape, measurements and depth of the containers; they must all be appropriate to the trees they contain. Containers are made of different materials. Generally speaking, earthenware containers are better than stone containers, and stone containers are better than porcelain containers. Earthenware containers possess simplicity and an "antique" look. Chinese pottery has long been known for its superior quality as to style, shape and the earth used, and is highly regarded by bonsai enthusiasts the world over. Old containers are collected as antiques. The best Chinese earthenware containers come from Sekwan, near Denton, Kwangtung Province. Those produced in other Chinese provinces are of less fine quality, the chief reason being the basic quality of the earth. The Sek-wan earthenware containers are poor radiators of heat and therefore do not absorb heat as much as the other kinds. This may be proved by placing the Sek-wan containers under the scorching sun, for it will be found that they do not absorb much heat. It is no wonder that they are especially preferred to the other kinds by bonsai growers.

As I have said, bonsai culture is very popular in Japan nowadays. The Japanese place great importance on the choice of containers, and regard the old Chinese containers as the best. Therefore old Chinese containers are very much in demand in Japan. I have travelled many times to Japan and have visited several bonsai exhibitions. I noticed that nine out of ten containers there were old Chinese containers, each bearing an explanatory note on a small card. In Japan containers which are modelled after the old Chinese containers are manufactured in large quantities. They are so well made that it is not easy to distinguish between the replica and the original. New containers made in Japan are much cheaper than the old Chinese containers and this fact helps make bonsai culture popular in Japan.

The matching of suitable stands to bonsai is almost as important as that of containers. If a pot of beautiful bonsai is placed on a suitable stand, the beauty of the plant will be enhanced. It is likened to the clothes a man wears. As Mr. Yuji Yoshimura has said. a pot of bonsai without a good stand to match it is just like a person without shoes. I think the analogy is perfect. It also explains why in bonsai exhibitions in China, each exhibit on display is placed on an appropriate stand.

Bonsai stands are usually made of wood, but some are made of porcelain and others are of wood with mother-of-pearl or marble inlaids. Among the different kinds of wood, red sandalwood (Pterocarpus santalinus) ranks first. The tree grows in the tropical forests in South-East Asia, and differs from the others as its wood sinks in water. This special feature also helps to distinguish it when buying. Mahogany (blackwood) is the second best, followed by rosewood. These last two belong to the Redwood family.

In China, the styles of stands have changed with the times, each having its own characteristics. For example, we have the Ming Style (1368 - 1644) and the Ching Style (1644 - 1911), the former emphasising the "lines", while the latter emphasising the "carving". Stands which were manufactured in the Ming and the Ching Dynasties have become antiques, and are now very expensive. Moreover, they are not easily obtainable. Those which can be obtained from the market nowadays are replicas. The best are those from Peking, those from Shanghai and Kwangtung being the second and third best respectively. Since these stands are for decoration purposes only and not a daily necessity, they are not manufactured in large quantities nor in a great or future use, as they may not be able to find a suitable one when they need it.

This article has been reprinted from the website, with permission from Poman Wu. You may visit the website at HTTP://www.manlungpenjing.org