Over the last couple of decades, according to writer Michael Turley, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of Westerners who have become involved with bonsai as a hobby. Many of these people have come to bonsai through an interest in gardening or horticulture. The idea of growing and refining a tree in miniature in the confines of a glazed clay pot is intriguing and found to be a challenge to many who have grown trees or other plants with success.
The art of bonsai needs the knowledge and the technical expertise of the gardener for the physical bonsai to survive and flourish.
For them, bonsai is the next logical step in refining their horticultural skills. For others, the art of bonsai is what draws them to the hobby. Instead of using clay or paint or some other traditional media, plant material is used to create a “living sculpture”. The “artist” looks at the raw material to “see” the tree inside, then gradually removes the unnecessary parts to reveal the prize within. The artist continues the development of his or her “sculpture” over a period of years through strategic wiring and pruning, taking great pride in the resulting artistic “creation”.
However, there is another aspect or discipline of bonsai that rarely gets the attention it deserves, even though it has played a significant role in the evolution of bonsai design and display. This third aspect is “religion” or
“spirituality” – the “soul” of the art of bonsai. While our numbers are fewer than those who follow the traditional paths of art or horticulture, those of us who follow the “spiritual” path of bonsai are in good historical company. Religion and/or spirituality have a long historical connection to the development of bonsai, especially in Japan. Bonsai can be traced back for over ten centuries in China where it was known as “penjing”.
The term “penjing” included both miniature landscapes and individual or groups of trees in pots. Penjing was often practiced by members of the elite or religious communities, so when penjing, later to be known as “bonsai”, was introduced to Japan, it was natural for it to come by way of Zen Buddhism, which was rapidly spreading throughout Asia at that time. In fact, the name for the “bunjin” or “literati” style of bonsai comes from the artist class of calligraphers, painters, and
Like Christianity, which celebrates a divine trinity, Zen also has its trinities, especially in its relationship to bonsai. One of these is the three basic virtues that are needed to create bonsai: shin-zen-bi, or truth, goodness, and beauty. The trinity is also expressed as a relationship between “god” or a “universal life energy”, man or the bonsai artist, and nature or the bonsai itself.
poets, often members of
religious orders,
who were the early custodians of bonsai in Japan.
During this earliest period of bonsai in Japan, the practice of bonsai was almost exclusively the domain of
Buddhist monks and their monasteries. Bonsai design underwent a significant change during this time as the practice of Zen spread throughout Japan. In China, the Linguan-style of clipand grow was the predominant method of developing and styling bonsai. However, this changed as the more abstract and minimalist philosophy of Zen influenced more areas of Japanese culture.
Like Christianity, which celebrates a divine trinity, Zen also has its trinities, especially in its relationship to bonsai. One of these is the three basic virtues that are needed to create bonsai: shin-zen-bi, or truth, goodness, and beauty. The trinity is also expressed as a relationship between “god” or a “universal life energy”, man or the bonsai artist, and nature or the bonsai itself.
This is mirrored in the traditional “tokonoma” found in most Japanese homes. In the tokonoma, bonsai are displayed on stands accompanied by a wall hanging or painting and a viewing stone or “accompanying plant” on the floor. In this setting, the painting represents “god” or the “life energy”, the stone or accompanying plant represent the earth or nature, and the bonsai itself represents man.
This triad of design continues in the actual structure of the bonsai tree itself. The trunk is divided into thirds with the first third absent of branches, the next third containing the first three main branches, and the final third containing the balance of the tree including the apex. The first three branches are
maintained at different heights, usually circling the trunk from side to back to opposite side. The remaining branches are also grouped in threes as they move towards the apex.
The shape of the overall tree reflects the shape of a triangle with the topmost corner representing the deity, the lowest corner representing the earth, and the middle corner representing man between god and nature. The Zen trinity is further represented in the concepts of “kami”, “wabi”, and “sabi”. Kami is synonymous with “divinity” and relates to the inner spirit or life force that inhabits all life forms – human, animal, and plant.
The concept of wabi and sabi are more elusive to the Western mind. Wabi refers to an inner peace or tranquility and the notion of humility when confronting or meditating on nature. While in the West, man is often placed in the center of the universe, in Zen, man is just a part of a balanced natural design. The concept of sabi is even more difficult to understand for many Westerners. It relates to the pleasure derived from the tending, loving, and possessing of things that have been transformed by man, nature, and time.
As these concepts apply to bonsai, the bonsai hobbyist or enthusiast recognizes that he or she is a part of nature and at one with nature, and through meditation on his or her trees, the bonsaist reaches deeper into his or her own soul or spirit to find fulfillment or enlightenment. How we come to bonsai is really immaterial to the growth of bonsai in the West.
The art of bonsai needs the knowledge and the technical expertise of the gardener for the physical bonsai to survive and flourish. The craft of growing trees in pots needs the artist to transform leaves, bark, roots, and branches into living works of
art. However, the bonsai, and the bonsai artist, is not complete without the “soul” of bonsai – that recognition of our relationship to our “creations” and the world around us, the sun, rain, and elements that nourish our trees – for without this connection, a bonsai is just a pretty little tree in a pot.
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