To many, the word Bonsai conjures up images of Japan. This may be true as Bonsai (like Ikebana and Suiseki) is one art form the Japanese have perfected over the years. Yet how many people know that it all started more than 2,000 years ago in China?
Bonsai is made up of two words: ‘bon’, meaning a pot or tray, and ‘sai’, which means ‘care for plants’. Bonsai is the Japanese pronounciation of the Chinese word Penzai which has the same meaning.
‘Penjing’ is a Chinese word which means ‘tray scenery’ in Penjing more stress is given to produce an aesthetic impression of natural scenery in miniature. It is the art of expressing any natural scenery or its elements in a container. This is achieved by using natural ingredients such as real trees and real rocks. However, human and/or animal figures may be used.
Originally Penjing were products of an aristocratic society and this would, up to a point, hinder their popularity as very few could get a formal education and have the time and money to devote themselves to the arts.
On the other hand, these aristocrats enjoyed growing plants in pots for their own amusement. Growing an ugly weird tree could provide a great conversation subject with visiting friends.
The first pictures of Penjing discovered come from a mural showing servants carrying potted trees from Prince Zhang’s tomb during the Tang Dynasty 706 AD. This precedes the first records of bonsai in Japan by 500 years.
Bonsai’s rise to fame may be due to two factors, both political to a certain extent. The first reason may have been the Chinese Exclusion Act which was passed in the US in 1868 to stop all immigration from China.
Originally intended to last 10 years, it was only repealed in 1943. This favoured the Japanese and their Bonsai, for it was in 1868 that the first exhibition of ‘dwarf trees’ was held in Brooklyn, New York.
The second reason which gave an edge to Bonsai over Penjing was the Cultural Revolution in China. In the late 1960s, radical students started a movement to destroy all remnants of China’s past feudal and aristocratic system. Many collections of Penjing were targeted and destroyed or neglected since they were seen as a bourgeoisie pastime.
This happened at a time when Bonsai were being marketed and made more available in the West. An article in the Reader’s Digest of June 1968 says bonsai “show the importance of the unimportant”.
This article and films such as The Karate Kid all boosted the popularity of Bonsai in the West while China’s Penjing lagged behind due to an “inward looking society”.
Gradually, China started opening up to a wider audience. Collections of Penjing which had survived the scourge of the Red Guards were brought to light, and in 1981, the China Flowers and Penjing Association was formed.
In 1988, the Chinese Penjing Artists Association was also formed. The Botanical Gardens of Shanghai includes over 2,000 trees in its Penjing Garden. It also houses a Penjing museum and nursery.
The trees also vary in size from small ‘mame’ trees which may be held in the palm of the hand to others over two metres tall. Their ages are also impressive, with some more than 200 years old.
In the Penjing museum at the Shanghai Botanical Gardens, one can take a more detailed look at the evolution of Bonsai from its roots in Penjing. Old prints, framed pictures of classic penjing, antique glazed pottery, some dating back to the Tang Dynasty (6th to 9th century AD) are to be found and admired.
In Malta, while other Chinese cultural activities are being acknowledged, Penjing has still not managed to take root. This is a pity. However, the art of Bonsai is growing in popularity. The Bonsai Culture Group (Malta) is an NGO formed in 1991. Exhibitions have been held annually since then.
Today is the last day of the bonsai exhibition at St James Cavalier, Valletta. It is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.