What is a Bonsai? The History of Bonsai (Part 1)

Bonsai. The word elicits varying reactions:  Admiration; Curiosity; Indifference.  Enthusiasts practice the art for years, sometimes traveling halfway round the world to study with one of the handful of acknowledged bonsai masters.  For these dedicated enthusiasts, bonsai can, and often does, quickly become a way of life.  They are the people who stand before a display of well-grown examples and shed tears.  Others turn away, unimpressed by the small trees in their even smaller containers, convinced that the trees are sick, or have been tortured.  In fact, the reverse is true.

No matter what an individual's reaction to a single bonsai may be, bonsai cannot be easily dismissed.  In China, where it probably originated, and in Japan where the styles which are emulated around the world evolved, its associations with art and history, philosophy and religion are a dominant part of its mystique.  Today, they are becoming better known in the West too.

This chapter sets out the history of bonsai and explains a little of the philosophy behind it and how it came to be such a potent cultural symbol for so many people.  An understanding of some of these factors, many of which are alien to Western thinking, will help to enhance your appreciation of this art form.

To the Japenese, there is a definite link between bonsai, nature, Man and God.  This partly arises from ZEN BUDDHIST philosophy, which holds that spirituality can only be expressed through minimal aesthetic means, but it also goes deeper than this.

For the newcomer, probably the best way to understand the philosophy behind it is to start with the word itself.  Bonsai (pronounced BONE-SIGH), literally translated means "Planted in a tray" or "potted dwarfed tree", depending on the translator.  But it is important to remember, in addition, that bonsai is a living art.  It compares with art forms that use paint and canvas, or marble and chisel, because bonsai too creates a composition and evokes emotional response by the sheer beauty of the material used and its container, and the effect of its stance and configuration on the viewer.

No one can say exactly when this art was first recognized and named, since bonsai developed without the benefit of specific written or visual documentation.  It seems, however, that bonsai (known there as "pen-jing" or "pun-sai") were first cultivated in China.  Only conjecture and educated guesses can paint the circumstances under which they developed to become such a powerful symbol to so many people in the civilized world.

The "plant in tray" and the "potted dwarfed tree" have a long history. Evidence of them can be found, after careful scrutiny, in both pictorial pieces and in verbal or written records from centuries agi, some predating the birth of Christ.  There is, for example, a Chinese legend dating from the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) that describes the power to miniaturize landscapes, including trees, to one Fei Jiang Feng.  Written records date from the third and fourth centuries, and it is clear that by the time of the T'ang dinasty (AD 618-906) bamboos, pines and other plants were being grown in containers.

Interestingly, too, container plantings have been written about and artistically represented in one form or another in almost every sophisticated culture, both ancient and modern.  The close relationship between nature, horticulture and human cultures as well as the respect for and exploration of that relationship, appears to have been an intrinsic part of many cultures from many parts of the world; these include the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, Persians and Hindus, among others.

It is not difficult to understand that, as people lived with plants every day, they would learn a great deal about them, including the fact that they could be packed up and taken along with migrating families, carried over long distances and difficult terrain, and re-established in the household when its members were newly settled.  This process could only have been successful if containers of a manageable size were used.  Also, close proximity with those plantings would make it easier for their owners to know when they would flower, fruit and so on.  Such constant observations would give growers sufficient knowledge to enable them to manipulate factors such as the time of bloom and even the copiousness of fruit production.  Thus for the New Year a Chinese family, for example, could look forward to the presence of the flowering apricot.

As one of the earliest spring-flowering trees to produce blossoms (in many bonsai nurseries in Tokyo today, apricots are in full bloom at the end of February), the apricot became a powerful and important symbol of the end of winter and a harbinger of the good springtime to come.

There was a strong horticultural tradition in ancient Egypt.  In their pottery, carvings, and drawing, some of which have been found in the temples near Thebes which were built over 4000 years ago - the Egyptians depicted trees in containers, and trees growing in rock crevices.  It appears from contemporary works of art that trees were brought great distances to enhance the formal garden of Queen Hatshepsut.  Pharaoh Rameses II was reputed to have encouraged the development of gardens within his temples, and the use of potted plants of all kinds, including olives, lotuses, rushes, lilies, date palms, and grasses, to decorate them.

Hindus practiced the science of dwarfing trees in order to insure that they had to hand the substances used in the healing science of Ayurvedic medicine, known throughout India and still practiced today.

Container planting was adopted in almost every sophisticated early culture, then tailored to suit the multiplicity of climates and ways of life in different countries.  Consequently growers' understanding of the nuances of raising and keeping plants became more and more refined, as they became more aware of the detailed relationship between sun and soil, water and nutrients, and the ultimate well-being of their potted plants.  Garden planning and design grew in importance, and plants in containers became an integral feature of both formal and informal gardens.

To be continued...

Thanks Kenro Izu for sharing your knowledge with us.