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CHINA | JAPAN | OTHER |
| 1800 |
* c.1800, Gothaer Penjing Album w/36 opaque color paintings of miniature landscapes
available for export to Europe.
(320)
* Use of wire (iron or brass) for styling of trees, along w/traditional use of pruning, palm leaf string and sticks, and weights such as stones or boulders to pull down branches into desired position. Bamboo poles used as formers or framework around which trunk and branches are trained in just a couple of years. Formers made from metal bars or very heavy-gauge wire used for creating acute bends or for straightening trunks on formal upright trees. (Towards end of previous century, some cultivators also used lead strips to wrap branches in a tubular fashion. When tube was then bent, branch would stay in desired position. But this method only useful in areas of sparse branching and provided little design flexibility.) (321) * By this time, according to Western accounts, air layering was primary propagation method for dwarf potted trees which were then generally between a foot and two in height after two to twenty years of work. Elms were main specimens, along w/pines, junipers, cypresses, and bamboos; plums were the favored fruit trees, along w/peaches and oranges. The branches could be bent and shaped w/wire, cut, burnt, or grafted; bark was lacerated at places or smeared w/sugary substance to induce ants (termites = "white ants") to roughen it or even eat the so sweetened heartwood. Rocks w/moss or lichens were sometimes also a feature of compositions. Most common pots were elongated squares, usually too small to support vigorous growth for the trees which were given scarce amounts of water. High prices might be paid by Chinese for trees which were said to be century or more in age. One account even mentioned elm, bamboo and cypress only few inches tall. (322) * By this time, designs of stands for man-made objects and scholars' rocks were often marred by profusion of extraneous motifs and by less attentive craftsmanship. Collectors now favored rocks w/massed forms only occasionally relieved by well-positioned perforations. These rocks typically have smoother profiles. (323) * Poet Gong Zizhen (1792-1841) lamented that those who sell plum trees "chop off the main branches but keep the offshoots, cut back luxuriant growth and kill tender sprigs, root up straight trees and sap their vitality - all in order to fetch high prices. As a result, all the plum trees in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are deformed; so fearful is the destruction caused by these literati and artists! "I bought three hundred potted plums, all deformed, not a single whole one among them. For three days I wept over them, then vowed to cure them. I loosened and straightened the branches, smashed the pots... and planted them in the ground..." (324) * Pots exported between 1816 and 1911 (especially late 1800s) called Nakawatari ("middle-crossing") or Chuwatari. Shallow, rectangular or oval shaped stoneware w/carved feet and drainage holes, unglazed pots of this type were used at ancestral shrines and treasured by the Chinese. After mid-century, certain Japanese antiquities dealers originally imported these and instant popular approval for this type of container for bonsai created huge demand for incense burners of this type. Consequently, orders came from Japan to Yixing pottery centers specifically to make bonsai pots. (325) * 1839-1860, First Opium War, Taiping Rebellion, and Second Opium War end in two unequal treaties w/European nations which give latter free access to treaty ports and great damage to and erosion of Chinese sovereignty. In 1842 Hong Kong became dependent territory of United Kingdom. From 1850 to 1873, as result of Taiping Rebellion, drought, and famine, population of China dropped by over 60 million people. Then 1876 to 1879 famine, due to drought, claimed lives of between 9.5 and 13 million people. (326) * Travelers to China in mid-1800s reported seeing wondrous tray landscapes in miniature, complete w/mountains, trees, houses, temples and figural images, which included emperors, gods, citizens, and fauna displayed in single container. Less described is fact that, under foreign occupations, wars, famines, and internal struggles, many of the best old collections could not be cared for and died off. (327) * Earliest known photograph from China which included dwarf potted trees: c.1868, "Bridge over Han River at Chao'an, Fujian" by John Thomson. * Near century's end, Lingnan or Cantonese school of "Clip and Grow" developed at monastery w/help of Wu Yee-Hong. (328) * At turn of century, Wu Yu-ji illustrated all sorts of historical and legendary events. His works were highly popular w/Chinese, although they may be regarded as more traditional than exact. Some scenes included penjing by themselves or in nursery-setting. (329) * Loss of Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95 also saw Island of Taiwan ceded by Qing dynasty to Japan as colony/occupation). (330) |
* Group of scholars of Chinese arts gathered in Itami (near Osaka) to discuss recent styles in art of miniature
trees and their "Bunjin Ueki" or "Bunjin Hachiue" renamed as "bonsai" (Japanese pronunciation of penzai).
Many words and compositions adopted by this group would be derived from Kai-shi-en Gaden. Many of these
persons also collected interesting naturally-shaped rocks.
(331)
*1808, two-volume Senkeiban zushiki, illustrated guide of tray landscapes for growers in Kyoto, among other books which mentioned. Senkeiban Preface states "Those who like them tried to imitate [the author], and they had formed a club [sic] with people of similar interests." (332) * 1829, tako-tsuki (octopus-shaped) trees by grower in Asakusa Park, an Edo suburb. (Within 20 years neighborhood would be crowded w/nurseries selling bonsai. By that time flower market/exhibitions would also have been taking place there, and would continue at least through 1910s.) There were eventually developed specialised bonsai nurseries which produced mainly requested species, pine and ume (flowering apricot). Their merchandise were no pieces of art but nursery stock produced according to certain standards and rules for their design according to ideals of a certain school, a highly appreciated characteristic implying certain degree of perfectionism but still subject to fashions. They left almost no creative freedom to the designer. Thus, bonsai strictly as tradition or symbol, religious/mythical approach was starting to be replaced as principle feature by design/craft approach. (333) * 1833, three-volume Kinsei-Jufu, possibly first catalog of bonsai, tools, and pots. (334) * Numerous artists had dwarf potted trees in a few of their woodblock prints, including Yoshishige (who pictured each of the 53 classic stations of the Tokaido highway as miniature landscape) and Kunisada (who included mostly hachinoki in some four dozen prints). (335a) * From Bakumatsu to early Meiji (1840-1885), term "literati bonsai" referred literally to bonsai appreciated by aristocratic men of culture who had been influenced by the literati of Chinese. Begun in Osaka and Kyoto, was increasingly appreciated also by people in Edo after start of Meiji, but still strongly tinged with Sinophilism. (335b) * 1854, Com. Perry's gunboat diplomacy opened Japanese trade to the West. * 1854-55, 120 earthquakes and tremors felt in Edo, worst being evening 11 Nov 1855 earthquake which killed 6,641 persons and destroyed most of city. Aftershocks continued for twenty days. * Earliest known photograph from Japan which included dwarf potted tree: c.1861, "Jeda. Group of Japanese, and General Construction of a Japanese Dwelling" by Pierre Joseph Rossier. MEIJI Restoration era (1868-1912) * Greatest change in Japan since Taika reform of 645 which introduced new political system w/Tang dynasty as its role model, instating Buddhism as official religion. Now, Chinese "other" replaced by Western "other." Modernization after Tokugawa era included review and changes to traditional art. * Late 1860s, thick combed and wetted hemp fibers were used to roughly shape trunk and branches by pulling and tying them. Process was tedious and bothersome, and final product was unsightly. Tips of branches would only be opened flat. Also, golden age of Ishizuchi Shimpaku (Chinese juniper) existed from around 1868 to 1878. Aesthetic sense w/Shimpaku was such that jin and shari of these trees were not greatly appreciated; instead, natural posture of these junipers fostered by their growing in the mountains was appreciated, w/age expressed in subtle and tasteful manner (shibui). Almost no trace of branch shaping. Untamed but sensitive in shape, since they could just be planted in a pot and be appreciated, they became very popular. Many were of medium-size and thus were perfectly suitable as dwarf potted trees. October 13, 1868, Meiji Emperor moved to his new capital in Tokyo and decided bonsai were to be used for display both inside and outside great halls of Meiji Palace, and ever since these trees have played important role in affairs of Palace. Necessary requirement for bonsai placed in such large surroundings as Imperial Palace was that they be "Giant Bonsai" large enough to fill grand space and demonstrate power, in contrast to Japan's most intellectual city and former capitol Kyoto which trended more minimalist koshidaka bunjin bonsai. (336) * Tako style trees w/long, wavy branches were mass-produced and designed in [renamed capital] Tokyo for increasing foreign trade, while bunjin-style trees designed in Kyoto and Osaka were for use in Japan. Tokyo preferred big trunks out of proportion and did not approve of Kyoto's finely-designed slender trunks. (This old cultural rivalry would continue for a century.) (337) * c.1880, tiny Komono bonsai popular. Giant trees of Imperial Bonsai Collection, however, were unaffected by these fashion transitions. (338) * 1882, three-volume review of exhibit from previous year, Bijutsu Bonsai Zu (Artistic Bonsai in Painting / Catalog of Bonsai Art), published. * In 1889 bonsai lover, Rokurou Ohta, obtained juniper bonsai that reminded its admirers of famous painting of "Kanzankokai" (an old Japanese cypress in winter mountain). Rumor spread among traders that "this is authentic (=shin), oak (=paku)." Thus, juniper was named "Shinpaku" (aka "Shimpaku.") This word was not known in either Chinese or Japanese language and so name "Shimpaku" was conceived within world of bonsai as new variety of junipers. Bonsai potters such as Miyagawa (Makuzu) Kozan (1842-1916), Hayata Takemoto (1848-1892), and Yonekichi Kibe (1853-1920). Medium-sized bonsai during last decade became majority size. (339) * 1891, bonkei tray landscapes molded w/keto peat by Master Chisen Izumi. One of his students, Tansui Oyama, would found own school using newspaper instead of peat. (340) * 1892, first bonsai exhibition, Artistic Bonsai Concours, held in Tokyo followed by publication of 3-vol. picture book. New tendency to see bonsai as independent art form. Amateur associations then emerged following other events. All of these guilds, which included Kojuenkai, Bonsai Dokokai of Riemon Murata, Taikoen, Toyo Engeikai of Yonekichi Kibe and Seidaien, Bonsai Shoreikai of Toshietsu Shimizu, had many members. (341) * Meiji Emperor encouraged interest in bonsai. Govt. officials who did not know bonsai felt out of place and soon entire ministry had bonsai whether they liked it or not. Prince Itoh was exception: any bonsai which the emperor gave him were then given to Kijoji Itoh, statesman of great influence behind the scene and noted bonsai collector who conducted many scientific researches and experiments concerning bonsai beyond the imagination of his day. Shimpaku junipers have been popular since 1890s, but for some time they were appreciated as one of Kinseijyu group like Rohdea Japonica (Omoto), or were considered too thick and too heavy in appearance. Even so, this juniper has had extraordinary popularity since its very first appearance. Its popularity gave birth to enthusiastic collectors such as Tason Ohata, and from beginning almost all major bonsai lovers devoted themselves wholeheartedly to this juniper. (342) * Interesting collected rocks were originally referred to as san sui kei seki (or as mountain water scenery stones), but in the late 19th century this was abbreviated to sui seki (or water stones). (343) * 1893, Ogawa Anson's Bonsai Baiyo Tebiki Sou (How to Raise Herbs and Grass for Bonsai) published. * Literati (Chinese) influence declined rapidly because of overwhelming Western influences and also as result of Japanese victory in Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95. Sencha tea ceremony remained popular though progressively simplified, and bonsai continued to be used as adjunct to it until well into 1920s. (344a) * 1894, Nishiki black pine (Pinus thunbergi var. corticosa) discovered in hills in Seto Inland Sea area. Known then as "Gansekisho" (irregular-rock-like) or "Yahazusho" pines, few original collected plants were propagated by grafting during first few years and a number of cultivars were developed. (344b) * 1895, Kiyochika's woodblock triptych Meeting for Peace Negotiations, showing Japanese and Chinese, included large tray landscape w/gray-barked pine in center panel. (345) * 1897, Iguchi Matsunosuke and Okamoto Hankei's Sōmoku zukai bonsai baiyō zensho published. * 1898, Okamoto Jun's Gakei chikuzō hakoniwa bonseki zuhen published. * 1899, notable collectors and gardeners who shaped trees during past quarter century (as mentioned in auction catalogs) included Tokio: Chiujiuen/Chinjiuen; Chotaro [one of Imperial gardeners]; Fakuba/Fukaba (late); Fokaki; Fukubei; Genbei; Hanshichi; Heisaku/Heisaka family, more than 300 years gardeners to Shogun; Hiakkaen/Hiakkaeu; Iseki/Iseke (late); Ishiki; Isokichi; Kaikaen; Kakoen, partly exposed root exponent; Kanekichi/Kamekicki; Kishisuke family; Kojiuen; Manjiro; Sarucho, early 18th century trainer; Sato; Seikaen; Senjiuen; Shichirohei, a master among tree trainers; Shinhoen/Shiuhoen; Somatsu; Suzuki; Tagaki/Takagi (late); Tagaya; Tokabei/Tokabai (late); Tokichi/Tokicho; Tokuymon; Tomakichi/Tomekichi from Yokohama (Saburō Katō's grandfather?); Umekichi; Unokichi (late); Yarocho; Yataro, one of best tree trainers Japan ever had; Furuta, collector; Mr. Kitani, collector; Mr. Otori, greatest collector of rare and artistic trees in Japan; Taikoen/Taikven, collector; Osaka: Baijiuen; Ichijiuen; Ranbikiyu/Ranbikiya; Sanjiuen; Sorokuen; Tomebun; Tomosuke; Mr. Hojuen, collector; Niigata: Mr. Hirose, collector; not specified: Kubei/Jubei; Zaru Cho. (346a) * 'Chabo-Hiba' hinoki cypress bonsai were no longer in favor in Japan and many up to 300 yo along w/newer cuttings grafted to common hinoki understock were being "dumped" on recntly opened markets in U.S., China, and Europe. (346b) |
* Hòn Non Bô, as well as miniature plants and rocks, are mentioned in Doan Truòng Tân Thanh,
thousand-page book by Vietnamese Nguyên Du (1765-1820).
(347)
* In 1806, "a very old dwarf tree [from China]... was gifted to Sir Joseph Banks and eventually presented to Queen Charlotte for 'Her Majesty's inspection...'" (348) * 1811, French work on Chinese culture includes mention of brass wiring and air layering of dwarf-trees (English translation in following year). * 1820, account of Dwarfing Trees in China by John Livingstone includes mention of Canton's Fa-tee gardens. Also states that "[The Chinese] botanical arrangements (if indeed they deserve the name) are extremely defective. No attempt has been made by them to form genera and species; the place of growth, the use, and the like, being with them the only distinguishing marks of plants. It therefore cannot be supposed, that anything like a scientific botanical collection exists in China. With the exception of a scanty Herbal, which was compiled by order of a former emperor, and some meagre articles on plants, in their Encyclopaedias, they have nothing which could have even secured a tolerable uniformity in the names, by which plants are known; so that Europeans (whose intercourse with China has been for the last half century, almost entirely confined to the port of Canton), frequently find that plants are not known by the same names, at the distance sometimes of a very few miles..." Western peoples at this time exposed to many different depictions of Chinese culture. (It would be years before sinologists were exposed to more sophisticated native works and best Chinese scholars and botanists of their times. This would lead to an upgrade of Western view of Chinese botany from that first learned from field workers, dried apothecary specimens, and only literal translations by Eurocentric missionaries and merchants of some of many nuanced texts.) (349) * 1830, Dutchman Meylan in Japan tells of bamboo, fir and flowering plum-tree growing in 4" x 1-1/2" x 6" box, offered for sale for about $500. (This description would be repeated in print several times during next seventy years.) * Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward accidentally discovered principle that sealed glass case could form self-sustaining environment for plants. Water transpired by plants condensed inside case and was reused. Wardian cases began to be used in late 1830s to ease problems of importing living plants from abroad. Instead of 1 in 20 plants surviving journey from tropics, only 1 in 20 perished. (Cases' use and survival rate declined after end of 19th cent.) (350) * 1838-41, Nathan Dunn's Chinese Collection in Philadelphia included paintings w/dwarf trees; 1842-51, expanded exhibition in London may have displayed an actual dwarf tree. * 1841, Japanese "dwarf-trees in flower-pots" mentioned by Philipp Von Siebold. * 1847, detailed description of Chinese dwarf trees by plant collector Robert Fortune (whose great success was partly because of the Wardian case). Also, some dwarf trees sent to England by this time. * c.1855, blood oranges imported to Palermo from Japanese gardens in form of dwarf grafted trees only a few inches high. * 1856, description of Commodore Perry 's visit to Japan had passing mention of dwarf trees, w/one illustration showing by Heine, the expedition's official artist. * c.1865, Anson Burligame presented w/Daimyo oak bonsai from Japan. Tree spent most of next 135 years as patio tree, restyled back into bonsai beginning c.2000 in California. * 1867, French gardener Joseph Monier, not satisfied w/clay or wood materials available for making flowerpots, began making cement pots and tubs which he then decided to strengthen w/embedded iron mesh. Patented these, explored possibilities in technique, promoted it extensively, and continued to find new uses for material over next decade. By combining steel and concrete in such way that best qualities of each material were brought into play, Monier became designer of first iron-reinforced cement bridge. Others improved upon his patents and eventually created whole buildings w/this technique. * 1868, collection of dwarf Chinese plants on exhibit in Brooklyn, earliest known in U.S. * 1869, modern-day Suez Canal opened between Mediterranean and Red Seas, drastically cutting time of passage for ships which used to have to circumnavigate Africa. * 1872, first Arbor Day celebrated in Nebraska. Would go on to become holiday on various dates that has international observance and recognition in many countries. * 1876, dwarf trees at Philadelphia Exposition. (351) * 1878 and 1889, dwarf trees at Paris Expositions, the latter taken care of by Mssrs. Saichiro Takuda and Kasawara. (352) * Topiary revival in England this century, especially in latter half as Italian Renaissance style gardens returned to favor. (353) * During Vietnamese Nguyên dynasty (1802-1945), art of miniature plants cây kiêng flourished. (Called cây canh in north.) Kings enjoyed planting pines and junipers; mandarins loved growing Thuja orientalis and Casuarina; intellectuals or other notable figures liked Ficus; and lay people devoted themselves to planting mallow, Tamarindus indica, and Melaleuca leucadendra. Except for those planted by kings, all trees planted for pleasure by mandarins or lay people had to have their tops bent downward because it was considered impertinent to superiors to have treetops growing upward. (354) *1882, passage of Chinese Exclusion Act effectively halted Chinese immigration to U.S. (355) * 1884-85, Sino-French War ended in Chinese loss of Annam (Vietnam) to encroaching French. (356) * 1889, Dwarfing or Nanisation in Japan mentioned by German J.J. Rein. * 1893, dwarf trees at Chicago Exposition and Izawa's talk before nurserymen there. Potted cedar, 3'H and 300 years old, considered to be probably best specimen in existence of celebrated dwarf trees of Japan was sent to this Columbian Fair by Emperor of Japan, but was prepared for transportation by being taken from its soil and roots were wrapped in brown paper. Attempts to resuscitate it upon arrival failed. Gnarled and rugged trunk and branches would be retained in Horticultural Building and given place of prominence in Japanese exhibit. (357) * Popularity of mai dat or mai dud dwarf trees in Siam (Thailand) reached its zenith in reign of Rama V (1868-1910) during Rattanakosin era. Thai aristocracy also enjoyed Chinese pen jing placed around edge of lawns. (358) * Japanese immigrants to Hawaii at end of century brought w/them bits of horticultural art and began dwarfing trees and plants during their leisure time using local plants. Some Japanese bonsai plants, mostly black pines, maintained by visiting officers of Japanese merchant and naval training ships calling on Hawaii, were given as gifts in appreciation of Hawaiian hospitality before plant quarantine restrictions. (359) * 1898, five hundred Japanese dwarf trees were auctioned over two days in New York City, the earliest known such event in the U.S. (360a) * 1899, almost three hundred Japanese dwarf trees were auctioned over two days in New York City. (360b) * Hugo Mulertt (b.1848) and his collection of American-made dwarf trees. |
| 1900 |
REPUBLIC OF CHINA (1912-1949) * Between 1911 and about 1940, mass-produced containers exported from Yixing and made to specifications of Japanese dealers called Shinto ("new crossing or arrival") or Shin-watare. Made for increasing numbers of enthusiasts. Some containers, including primitive style ones, were also made in Formosa. (361) * Already present when Japan occupied Taiwan, Taiwanese bonsai took a turn. In olden times, Taiwanese bonsai masters used to learn techniques from Japanese. Some Taiwanese pioneers even went to Japan to study bonsai and many Japanese bonsai were imported. Due to climatological factors, some of trees thrived while others perished. Also, government restrictions were imposed and trees were no longer importable, given fact that Taiwan is highly agriculturally dependent country. Before long, government prohibited collecting yamadori, native stock. At same time Taiwanese imported yamadori from Philippines, but this was also banned. Growers would develop very high technical standards in growing and training raw nursery field stock. (362) * Chinese culture had been struggling to redefine itself in modern world, and by this time, Chinese intellectuals looked to West, where there was no place or appreciation for found, natural objects, such as scholars' rocks. The literati class that had valued those rocks and given them meaning had largely disappeared. These rocks were virtually unknown to West at that time. (363) * 1928, Shanghai Botanic Garden was given number of bonsai as gift from Japan. (364) * 1933, Floyd McClure's article in English on P'oon Tsui printed in Lingnan Science Journal. (365) * In 1930s, Lingnan School broke w/practice of training each tree by following strict formula and began styling trees in accordance w/natural growth patterns. Other schools soon followed suit. (366) * 1935, Hsia I-pin's Hua hui p'en tsai fa published. * 1937, Alfred Koehn's book Japanese Tray Landscapes published in English in Peking. * 1948, Ts'ui Yü-wên's Chung-kuo P'ên ching chi ch'i tsai p'ei published. PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (mainland, 1949-present) REPUBLIC OF CHINA (Taiwan, 1949-present) * 1949, during Chinese Civil War, Kuomintang led by Chiang Kai-shek escaped from mainland China and ROC government fled from Nanjing to Taipei, while continuing to claim sovereignty over all China, which ROC defines to include mainland China, Taiwan, Outer Mongolia and other areas. In mainland China, victorious Communists established PRC, claiming to be sole representative of China (which it claimed included Taiwan) and portraying ROC government as illegitimate entity. Some 2 million people, consisting mainly of soldiers, KMT party members and most importantly intellectual and business elites also fled mainland China and arrived in Taiwan around that time. Penjing, pasttimes and options of fleeing wealthy, were either taken w/them or hastily abandoned. Chinese dwarf tree culture largely relocated to Hong Kong and Taiwan. (367) * Chinese pots exported after WWII called Shin-Shin-To ("new-new-crossing"). (369) * Su Ren (1894-1962), Kong Taichu (1903-1985), Xu Xiaobai (1909-2006). (369) * 1954, Longhua nursery in Shanghai included teaching of classical theory and practice of pentsai, and also modern Garden of Dragon Flower was created as part of Shanghai's Botanic Garden. (370) * 1958, Hangzhou Flower Nursery established w/flowers, rose gardens, and two and one-half acre bonsai garden. (371) * 1958-61, Great Leap Forward famine started unwise and impatient attempt to have peasants abandon their farms for collective farms -- resulting in much of good initial harvest rotting in fields -- and begin to produce steel in small ineffective backyard foundries, often melting down their farm instruments and kitchen implements in process using local trees and wood taken from doors and furniture of peasants' houses as fuel; 1959-60 was time of droughts, floods, and general bad weather; implementation of number of radical and controversial agricultural innovations ('sow less, harvest more' policies) based on now discredited ideas which had failed twice in Soviet Union (1931-33 and 1947, which also saw bad weather); and record exportation of grain during those years (also like USSR did). Such was intense pressure on Communist party cadres to report only good news -- such as exaggerated production quotas met or exceeded -- that information about escalating disaster was effectively suppressed. When leadership did become aware of scale of famine, it did little to respond, and continued to ban any discussion of cataclysm. This blanket suppression of news was so effective that this greatest peacetime demographic disaster of 20th century only became widely known in China and throughout world starting almost twenty years later. Entire villages had been wiped out by starvation. Estimates of excess mortality due to this ranged from 15-30 million, with some 30 million further cancelled or delayed births. Agricultural collectivization policies were quietly reversed by mid-1960s, but not effectively dismantled until 1978. (372) * 1960, month-long Jiucheng Bonsai Art Exhibition held in Yuexiu Park by Guangzhou Bonsai Art Research Association, works of 100s of bonsai masters exhibited in first cross-regional, large-scale, show held after founding of People's Republic of China in 1949. (373a) * 1961, Ts'ui Yü-wên's Chung kuo p'ên ching chi ch'i tsai p'ei published. * 1962, Kuang-chou p'en ching published. * 1966, by this time there were "more than sixty characteristic regional forms of P'an tsai, each one readily distinguishable to the eye of an expert." (373b) * During upheaval of misguided Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (May 1966-April 1969+), one relatively small effect was that many collections of penjing in Mainland China -- especially around Beijing and Guangzhou -- were destroyed or neglected because they were seen as bourgeois pastime. Many trees lost because they couldn't be taken care of on regular basis. Survivors often were cared for by persons lacking knowledge and hence grew out of shape. At one spot years later could be seen over one acre of penjing pot shards where mobs had gathered penjing thoughout the area, burned the trees, and smashed pots. After their trees were gone, some Chinese penjing masters, men in their sixties and seventies, were forced to do something considered socially redemptive -- many were sent to fields to plant rice. However, in some cities further to south and east, such as Wuhan (Hubei province), Guilin (Guangxi), Hangzhou (Zhejiang), and Suzhou (Jiangsu) some penjing had been collected for safe-keeping. Gifted trees at Shanghai Botanical Center also were protected. (But most of best collections had disappeared long before this time.) (374) * Incised inscriptions -- some dating to mid-sixteenth cent. -- on back sides of some scholars' rocks were obliterated to protect those rocks from possible vandalism during Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. These rocks became particular target of Red Guards because they represented decadent "high culture." Other rocks were protected by owners hiding small ones or removing from their stands and placing in gardens. Many scholars' rocks thus were never reunited w/original stands, and untold numbers were lost or destroyed. (Collectors had added inscriptions to rocks both as mark of ownership and as measure of respect and appreciation. Even more than use of wooden stands, presence of inscriptions signaled acceptance of scholars' rocks as works of art by literati.) (375) * 1968, Wu Yee-sun (1905-2005), grandson of Lingnan school founder, held first exhibition of artistic pot plants jointly w/Mr. Liu Fei Yat in Hong Kong. This was display of traditional aristocratic penjing which had survived 1949 People's Revolution by leaving/being protected from Mainland China. Wu's book Man Lung Garden Artistic Pot Plants published following year in Chinese w/English, w/enlarged second edition containing a chronological history of the art in 1974. (Numerous small Western groups would visit Wu's home and collection during next several years.) Also in 1968, Hsia I-pin's Hua hui p'ên tsai fa published. (376) * 1970s, Shanghai School as distinct center of penjing art not founded until this time. (Traditional Shanghai penjing as such never existed.) (377) * 1974, Ch'en Shui-yüan's P'en tsai pai k'o published. * 1976, 28 July earthquake shattered 20 sq. mi. around Tangshan, killing est. 655,000 persons.Then after death of Chairman Mao Zedong 10 Sept, one of the new government rulings permitted commune members to have a personal bonsai of their own. (378) * 1977, Wang Yung-yüeh's Shih yung hsiao p'in p'en tsai published. * 1978, w/Hu Yun-Hua (b. 1943) as curator, Penjing Garden at Shanghai Botanic Garden opened on site of Longhua nursery and had 120 varieties of trees and used 20 different kinds of rocks. Reception area had fine educational museum and collection of antique pots. Production brigade of 50 experienced workers would create over 20,000 trees for sale annually w/most going to Japan. (New penjing pavilion would open in 1995.) Also this year, Yuk Sui Yuen Bonsai Exhibition was held in Canton -- first public show in ten years w/approx. 250 bonsai from private collections displayed in public park and antique pots also shown. (379) * 1979, First National Penjing Show held in Beijing. Collection at Beijing Botanic Garden started about this time. (380) * 1980, Horie Satoo's Pen zai ru men and Huang Dezhang's Taiwan, Riben pen zai he ding ben: gai yao, guan shang, zao xing, pei yang, guan li ru men shu published along with Komatsu Masao's Za mu pen zai and Zhonghua yi shu pen zai by Zhang Yingqin and Jiang Bofeng; Liu Ch'un-t'ien and Hu Jung-ch'ing's Chung-kuo p'en ching (Miniature landscapes and dwarfed plants of China) published w/Foreword and table of contents in English. * 1981, first postage stamps (set of 6) featuring miniature landscapes was issued in March by People's Republic of China; Hangzhou Flower Nursery had one division specializing in artistic pot plants which had over fifteen hundred once abandoned older specimens being maintained and in initial stages of being retrained. Art of penjing would again become vastly popular in China, in part due to stability returning to most people's lives and significantly improved economic conditions; growth would be most pronounced particularly in coastal provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong as well as Shanghai; increasing numbers of good public and private collections, latter w/anywhere from several hundred to several thousand pieces. Figurines and ornaments were commonly used in compositions; and China Flower and Penjing Association formed by year's end; Xu Xiaobai, Zhang Renlong, and Zhao Qingquan's Penjing published. (381) * 1982, Pen zai ru men and Pen zai shi jie published. * 1983, Li Ruifu's Yao yong pen jing quan shu (Artistic pot plants) published. * 1984, 13-part "The Art of Chinese Bonsai in Taiwan," narrated by Prof. Amy Liang, aired on public television there; monthly newspaper Zhongguo Huahui Penjing started in Beijing; Zhongguo pen jing qi shi: jia ting pen jing qi shi gong 260 pen and Feng Qinduo's Shu zhuang pen jing she ji yu zhi zuo published. (382) * 1985, First Chinese National Penjing Exhibition held for nearly a month in Shanghai; Ling nan p'en ching by K'ung T'ai-ch'u (Kong Taichu, 1903-1985), Wei-chao Li and Yen-hsi Fan published, along w/Chinese Penjing by Xu Xiaobai, Wu Shihua and Zhao Qingquan. (383) * 1986, Chinese Penjing Theory Symposium and Regional Styles of Chinese Penjing Exhibition took place in Wuhan, Hebei province; Pan Zhonglian and Yanjie Liu's Pen jing zhi zuo yu xin shang published. (384) * 1987, bimonthly Huamu penjing started by this year in Wuhan; Hua mu yu pen jing shou ce and Zhou Tang's Shipu (Stone compendium) published. * 1988, China Penjing Artists Association formed; Lingnan pai pen jing and Longhua pen jing published. (385) * 1989, Li Ch'i-an's Pen tsai kuo shu: ching chih nung yeh published. * In July 1990, First Chinese View Stone Appreciation Symposium was held and the words 'view stones' or guanshanshi were unveiled as recommended words to use for ornamental stones. (Sixteen different words for stones were identified in a stone appreciation conference held in Beijing previous year.) Since that time, term "view stones" has been widely adopted throughout China for Chinese stones. (386) * 1992, Liu Zhongming and Liu Xiao Yi's Lingnan penjing, yishu yu ji fa (Lingnan Penjing, Art and Techniques) published. * Qingquan Zhao (b.1949), who developed third category of penjing shuihan ("water-and-land" style), his 1992 book w/preface and summary in English Chinese Penjing and Its Analysis, and his 1997 book in English, Penjing, Worlds of Wonderment. (387) * 1994, Yu Rong's Qishi shangwan (The appreciation and enjoyment of strange stones) published. * 1995, You Chongkui's Pen zai da quan published, and View Stone Association of China (VSAC) founded, w/monthly magazine Baozang (Treasure). * 1997, transfer of Hong Kong's sovereignty from UK back to People's Republic of China. Su Benyi and Ma Wenqi's Dang dai Zhongguo pen jing yi shu (The penjing art of China) published. * 1998, first annual Taiwan Bonsai Creator Association exhibit held (ongoing); and Chen Jizhou edited Penjing Yishu (The Art of Potted Landscapes); Liu Zhongming and Liu Xiaoling's Lingnan penjing, yishu yu ji fa, Yu Yun and Xia Rong Yao's Lingnan Penjing Jia Zuo Shang Zhe (Appreciation of Outstanding Lingnan Penjing), and Peng Chunsheng's Zhongguo pen jing liu pai ji fa da quan (Comprehensive schools and techniques of Chinese penjing) published. (388) *1999, Beijing Penjing Society's The Art of Beijing Ornamental Stone and Penjing and Ming Jun's Jia ju peng jing published. First China & International Shangshi (Artistic Natural Viewing Stone) Exhibition held (ongoing). * Hu Leguo (b.1934), Zhu Yongyuan (b.1939), Ge Ziqiang (b.1941), Min-Hsuan Lo (b.1956) (389) |
* By 1900, Shimpaku juniper became accepted as one of classic species used in bonsai.
During early years of its popularity, there was extreme shortage of Shimpaku, particularly
compared to mainstream trees used for bonsai at that time, such as Japanese red pine
(Akamatsu), Japanese black pine (Kuromatsu) and Japanese cedar (Sugi);
Eséki, Chokarô, Murano, Oesopé, Magoyémon were experts in treatment of pines, the family Ito,
preferred to work on Chamaecyparis and Thuya, educated at Tokio and other centres renowned pupils: Nishé of
Idéka, Také of Denchu, Tanaka, Takaghè, Terano of Yamamoto; use of numerous, almost invisible, fastenings of
brass wire or of very fine slips of bamboo to shape branches.
(390)
* Count Okuma (1838-1922) and his famed collection of dwarf pines and dwarf plum trees. * After 1902, greater variety of plants were used. Nakajima Nobuyoshi's Bonsai Shitate Hiho published that year. (391) * 1903, Tokyo association Jurakukai showings of bonsai and ikebana at two Japanese-style restaurants. Kibe Yonekichi's Bonsai Baiyo Ho (Cultivation Methods for Bonsai) published. (392) * 1905, Sakuma Yosaburo's Katei Engei Kwaki to Bonsai (Floriculture and dwarf plants for the home) published. * 1906, Bonsai Gaho (till c.1913), first monthly magazine. Also, Nomura Yasutaro's Bonsai Shoku Butsu Saisyu Oyabi Baiyo Hou (Creating and Maintaining Plants for Bonsai) and Katō Ginjirō's Bonkei hitorikoshirae, tsuketari suiseki biko published. (393) * By 1907, "on the outskirts of Tokio [dwarf] tree artists have formed a little colony of from twenty to thirty houses, and from this centre their work finds its way to all parts of the world." "Its secrets are handed down from father to son in a few families, and are guarded w/scrupulous care." Toyo Engei and Hana (in Kansai) magazines also started. (394) * 1908, first exhibition of Hachi-niwa (dish gardens) held in Kyoto's Kyoto Club round three white-matted rooms, each dish on low black wooden stand raised only slightly higher by a dais. Visitors thus having to kneel to observe included persons from all classes of society. Garden judged best awarded prize. Making of Hachi-niwa said to be favorite occupation of ladies over in Tokyo. Also, 1st of April was best night-market of year in Kyoto for purchasing abundant, cheap, imperfect dwarf potted trees in full bloom or as groves or forests or various accent plants. And by this time Ishizuchi Shimpaku trees had become exhausted in the wild, and some growers sought out Korean Shimpaku for resale so almost all Shimpaku sold by large-scale merchants around Takamatsu included Korean specimens. (395) * 1910, wiring techniques described in Sanyu-en Bonsai-Dan (History of Bonsai in the Sanyu nursery). Zinc-galvanized steel wire initially used to replace long tradition of string and bound rope to manipulate branch placement. Expensive copper wire only used for trees which had real potential. Also this year Yamadori collector Tahei Suzuki (b.1865-c.1940s) reportedly collected famous Shimpaku later known as "Fudo," which was between 600 and 1,000 years old. Kaibara Tooru's Jumoku Bonsai Ron (A Discussion on Bonsai) published. (396) TAISHO era (1912-1926) * 1912, Inoue Masayoshi's Bonsai Teien Matsu Baiyo Oyobi Teireho (Methods of Training and Maintaining Garden Pines as Bonsai) published, as well as viewing stone books Katsuno Buseki's Hosokawa-ryu shiki no keizu and Katsuno Hakuen's Bonseki chokuden no zu and Rikyu Takasago nijuhachi bonkeizu. * By 1914, "at the N.E. corner of [Shiba Park southwest of the Imperial Palace] is a permanent bazaar (the first of its kind established in Tokyo) where hosts of native-made gimcracks can be bought at fixed prices. The exhibits of potted plants and dwarf trees held here from time to time attract lovers of such things." Also this year, first national bonsai show held annually (through 1933) in Tokyo's Hibiya Park. (First purely Western-style park created in center of that city in 1903, south of Imperial Palace, which had been estates of Mori and Nabeshima clans in Edo Period, and then were under control of army in Meiji Period.) (397) * During this period, tokonoma in formal rooms and tea rooms became main place for bonsai display. Trees now shared space w/other items such as scrolls, incense burners, Buddhist statues and tea ceremony implements. "Literati bonsai" during 1865-1940, were bonsai of those with literati tastes, influenced by original literati, but now enjoyed and displayed in drawing rooms of men of taste and refinement during this time. Multiple trunk, slanting and other styles present but literati considered most refined form of expression. (398) * 1917, Nakajima Nobuyoshi's Somoku Jikken Bonsai Shitate-ho (Secrets of dwarf-tree growing) published. * Tomekichi Katō (1883-1946) and Ezo spruce. * 1921, first issue of Bonsai magazine published by Norio Kobayashi (1889-1972) for 518 consecutive issues. And copper wire began to be extensively used around end of WWI. Major changing of the shape of trees could now be accomplished because of introduction of use of wiring. Trees could be precisely and aesthetically wired, and then sold immediately. Greater number of both collected (though these were starting to decrease in availability) and nursery trees could now be trained for bonsai. Number of hobbyists would increase due to increased ability to style w/wire, but there was also increase in damaged or scarred trees. (399) * 1923, right before noon on 1 Sept, est. 8.3 magnitude Great Kanto Earthquake and resulting fire devastated Tokyo, killed over 100,000 persons, and gutted downtown area -- where many bonsai were grown. * Fire had "incinerated large swathes of Tokyo and Yokohama. Both cities had been transformed into scorched, broken and almost unrecognizable wrecks." Number of people seeking refuge in Ueno Park -- first public park in Tokyo, originally grounds of Kaneiji Temple and "long loved by common people as famous site for cherry-blossom viewing" -- from fires and unstable buildings highlighted potential of parks as safe havens, and Tokyo city planners would create three large parks and 99 smaller ones to be located adjacent to primary schools, serving both as green spaces for children, and safe havens in event of another natural disaster. * 1925, group of thirty families of downtown Tokyo professional growers established Bonsai Mura in Omiya north-northwest of capital; leaders included Ritaro Shimizu, Toshiji Yoshimura (1891-1975), and Tomekichi Katō (1883-1946). (400) SHOWA era (1926-1989) * 1927, first great public exhibition at Asahi Newspaper Hall in Tokyo held. (401) * Toolsmith Masakuni I (1880-1950). * 1928, Sugimasa, Shōun's Bonkei hiketsu zugai published. "Curious Pot Digest" by Shikei Kanjin (Fujizaka Kinetarou) was begun to be serialized in Bonsai magazine (running 1928-44) and would feature more than 500 rare and unusual pots. (402) * 1929, All-Japan Bonsai Exhibition in Tokyo, and first showing of Shimpaku later named "Fudo," which won first prize. (Tree then not seen again in public till after WWII). Two-volume Taiten Kinen, Bonsai Meihin Shu (Anniversary of Taiten, Collection of Excellent Bonsai) published, along w/two viewing stone books by Ōi Raisei, Kofu zue and Meishō zue. (403) * 1930s, first time idea was expressed that landscape gardening of past several centuries expressed spirit of Zen. Peaceful tone was in contrast to nationalism; after WWII would be extensively spread as reconciling element in demoralizing atmosphere of defeat and occupation by American forces. Many facets of medieval Chinese-inspired culture of Japan were arbitrarily listed under rubric of Zen. (404) * 1931, Sumida Masao's Bonsaido (The Way of Bonsai) published. * 1934, first Kokufu-ten exhibition held in Tokyo's Ueno Park. Ushimaros Sawada Bonsai Geijyutsu (The Fine Art of Bonsai) published. * Count Yorinaga Matsudaira (1874-1944) who coined term "shohin" for very small trees (405) * 1935, tokonoma display principles now allowed bonsai shown for tree's individual beauty, not just for spiritual significance. (406) * 1938, Nozaki Nobuo's Shumi No Jumoku Bonsai: Shitate Hihou (The Hobby of Bonsai Trees: Cultural Secrets) published. * 1940, about 300 bonsai dealers in Tokyo, about 150 species of trees were being cultivated, thousands of specimens annually shipped to Europe and America, and first book in English published in Tokyo: Dwarf Trees (Bonsai) by Shinobu Nozaki (1895-1968) which provided first detailed listing of plants used during different periods of artform's development in Japan in 19th and 20th cent. (407) * Kyuzo Murata (1902-1991) was one of very few allowed to take care of bonsai during Pacific War. * 1945, many old trees were smallest casualties of spring and summer napalm fire-bombings of Tokyo (esp. March 9/10) and 66 other cities. Gardeners protected Imperial collection trees from fire by pouring water over them after the Palace had caught fire from nearby firebombings bombed on May 25/26. Then was begun post-war re-evaluation and reviving of damaged collections of trees -- including Imperial -- which would continue for over a decade as economically and psychically devastated Japan rebuilt. During Allied Occupation (through 1952) U.S. officers and their wives could take courses in bonsai, bonkei, ikebana, etc. as arranged by Gen. MacArthur's headquarters. Japan required to surrender its troops in Taiwan to forces of Republic of China Kuomintang. Many older and limited varieties of trees no longer available; bonsai in fashion changing partly because of. Copper wire now largely replaced ordinary iron wire for use on better trees, but latter still would be used for mass-produced commercial bonsai. (408) * 1947, Kokufu-ten displays restarted after four year cancellation (ongoing). * 1948, Japan Bonkei Association reestablished. (409) * Destruction wrought by American bombing in WW2 led to another opportunity to redesign Tokyo, and gave even more decisive boost to city's park system. Important part of city's post-war redesign was attempt to decentralize, creating sub-cities around Yamanote Line, including Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Ikebukuro. In effect, modern Tokyo became collection of cities, and this opened up potential parkland that would previously have been too far removed from heavily populated city centre to be of any use. At same time, notion that Japan had to become less militaristic, pushed on nation by American occupiers, meant that land under control of army, or former daimyo estates controlled by zaibatsu, or later, land used in occupation by the American military, suddenly became available for conversion to public parks. * 1950, Cultural Properties Law enacted to provide for designations and protections of "natural monuments," such as national parks, places of historic, scenic, or scientific interest, as well as animals, their habitats, plants, and geologic and mineral formations. (410) * 1951, Norio Kobayashi's Bonsai -- Miniature Potted Trees published in English. * 1952, Yuji Yoshimura collaborated w/Alfred Koehn to give demonstrations and first formal bonsai courses opened to the public and outsiders in Tokyo. Also, the first exhibition of potted Japanese plums (Bonbai-ten) blossoming in the late winter was held Nagahama at the Keiunkan (ongoing). * 1955, Soen Yanagisawa's Tray Landscapes (Bonkei and Bonseki) published in English gave first detailed history of those related artforms. * 1956 (through 1965), editor Kenji Murata (b.1901) edited 10-volume series Bonsai: Photographs of Now Famous Trees w/Japanese text and English forward. (411) * International teacher Saburō Katō (1915-2008). * 1960, Samuel Newsom's A Dwarfed Tree Manual for Westerners published in English. * 1961, Nippon Suiseki Association formed in May, w/its first exhibition of fine suiseki Nippon Suiseki Meihinten (ongoing) held month later. (412) * 1962, "Prospectus of the Establishment of the International Federation of Bonsai Associations (Tentative Name)" was announced by seven Japanese bonsai and suiseki groups. Kiku tools began to be manufactured. (413) * 1963, Kawamoto and Kurihara's Bonsai-Saikei published in English, about landscapes made w/younger material than traditionally used because of relative lack of old large plants, mostly from Pacific War damages. * 1964, great exhibition held by newly formed Nippon Bonsai Association in Hibya Park to mark Tokyo Summer Olympics in October and commemorative album Gems of Bonsai and Suiseki published in Japanese and English. Kyuzo Murata's Bonsai: Miniature Potted Trees also published in English. Bonsai No Shitatekata Ajiwaikata (The Ways of Cultivation and Appreciation of Bonsai) and Ayusawa Sengyo's Suiseki mondō: yoi ishi warui ishi published. (414) * 1965, private Kokufu Bonsai Association reorganized into Nippon Bonsai Association, and Nakajima and Young's The Art of the Chrysanthemum published in English. "Literati bonsai" understood as a specific style which has developed along w/popularization of bonsai since after the War. (415) * 1966, Hayashi Mitsunori's Ishi o kataru published. * 1967, first American club members hosted by Kyuzo Murata, studying a week at his nursery and then spending next around Tokyo, Kyoto, Takamatsu, and Nagoya. Masters' Book of Bonsai published in English. (416) * 1968, Katō Terukichi and Kenji Murata's Bonsaizukuri hyakka published. * 1969, Keiko Yamane (b.1941) opened Keijukai Bonsai School specializing in grasses and accent plants; Nippon Bonsai Kyodo-Kumiai (Japanese Bonsai Union, a professional bonsai growers association) founded. (417) * 1970, large display of bonsai and suiseki held as part of Expo '70; three monthly magazines started: Bonsai Sekai, Satsuki Kenkyu, and Shizen to Bonsai; Shimpaku "Fudo" sold by Kyuzo Murata to Brooklyn Botanic Garden; Japanese edition of Nippon Bonsai Taikan published. (English edition as Bonsai Masterpieces would come two years later w/90 page English booklet, but w/out translation of original 20 page "Brief History of Bonsai" by Asst. Prof. Ryoji Iwasa of Chiba University.) (418) * 1972, Hidaka Shichirō's Suiseki saijiki published. * 1973, Bonsai Miniatures Quick & Easy by mame expert Zeko Nakamura (1900-1989) published in English; Fukasawa Shichiro's Bonsai rojin to sono shuhen also published. (419) * 1974, Tei'ichi Katayama's The Mini-Bonsai Hobby published in English, and Editors of Garden Life Magazine 12-volume series on Illustrated Guidelines for Creating various types of bonsai during next dozen years or so Imperial Bonsai Collection (The Golden Wedding Anniversary Album) published. * 1975, first Sakufu-ten (Creators Bonsai Exhibit) (ongoing), only one where professional bonsai growers can exhibit traditional trees under their own names, organized by Hideo Kato (1918-2001) at Daimaru Department Store in Tokyo; Matsudaira Mame Bonsai Collection Album and Hakoda Naotoshi's Bonsai hanshokuho published; 53 bonsai and six suiseki given to U.S. as Bicentennial Gift, documentary Bonsai Fly to U.S.A. made. (420) * 1976, first Gafu-ten (Elegant-Style Exhibit) of shohin bonsai held (ongoing); Kokyo no bonsai (The Imperial Bonsai of Japan) and Ryoji Iwasa's Cultural History of Bonsai published, as well as Bonsai by Adachi Kenji and Iwasa Ryoji's Bonsai Bunka-shi. * 1977, monthly Kindai Bonsai launched, first magazine of its type from Kyoto-Osaka area. * 1978, Jerald Stowell's The Beginner's Guide to American Bonsai published in English; Hayashi Tetsuya's four books on Creation and Care of Flowering, Genuine, Coniferous, and Miscellaneous Bonsai published, along with Ikei Nozomu's Bonsai No Shakaigaku: Nihonbunka No Kozo (A Social Study of Bonsai: A Discussion in Japanese Culture). * 1979, first Kigokoro Bonsai Exhibition in Tokyo, sponsored by young generation of bonsai artists. Also, Itoigawa Collectors' Union organized to enter mountains for a fee to collect Shimpaku junipers during spring months. (421) * 1980, First World Bonsai Convention was held in Osaka during the World Bonsai and Suiseki Exhibition. Also, by this time copper wire had been replaced by anodized aluminum wire for both technical and cost reasons. Reusable and easier to use, aluminum wire does not react w/water, soil or fertilizer -- something which copper lethally did w/certain plants. (422) * 1981, first Taikan-ten (Grandview Bonsai Exhibition) was held (ongoing). (423) * In early 1980s, growing concern about stress of modern urban life. By that point, 80% of Japanese people lived in big cities, and earlier fears that life was increasingly ruled by clock rather than by nature's rhythms had been realized. Even longer work days, and constant pressure not to make a mistake, had resulted in Japanese being most sleep deprived society on earth, and stress was endemic. In 1982, director of Japanese Ministry of Forestry and Fisheries suggested that spending time in forests would heal these stresses. He called this shinrin-yoku and this idea of forest bathing made "intuitive sense" to Japanese. * 1982, first book about "Magical Technician" Masahiko Kimura (b.1940)'s work published. Also, Editors of Shufunotomo's The Essentials of Bonsai in English and Hideo Marushima's An Interpretive History of bonsai and Suiseki (plus his 1992 History of Japanese Stones and 1998 Studies on the Historical Influences of Chinese Penjing on Japanese Bonsai). Bonsai as design, craft approach was starting to be replaced by next phase, art, artistic approach as principle feature. (This attitude is alien to traditional Asian art, where creativity means more virtuous play w/traditions than creating something new.) (424) * 1984, first Meifu-ten Bonsai Exhibition held (ongoing); first issue of Bonsai Joho magazine published. * 1985, Kanuma Natural Bonsai Park, designed by publisher and Satsuki azalea enthusiast Kenko Rokkaku (b.1923), opened on 30 acres half-hour by train from Nikko. (425) * 1987, collected essays by Aragaki Hideo, Shizen to Jinsei (Nature and Life), published. HEISEI era (1989-2019) * 1989, World Bonsai Convention in Omiya and World Bonsai Friendship Federation (WBFF) was inaugurated. (Conventions would then be held every four years at different global locations (ongoing).) Also, Nippon Bonsai Association's Classic Bonsai of Japan published in English w/chapter providing comprehensive look at history of both physical and metaphysical approaches to the art by Hideo Marushima. (426) * 1993, Katherine (Kathy) Shaner of San Jose, CA became first non-Japanese citizen and first woman to be awarded certificate of Bonsai Master (sensei) by Nihon Bonsai Kyodo Kumiai, and first Suiseki World EXPO was held at Ueno Green Club in Tokyo, w/participants from ten countries (sponsored by Japanese Agency of Cultural Affairs). (427) * 1994, Takagi Bonsai Museum opened in Tokyo (but would close after almost 11 years.) (428) * 1995, limited-edition Takasagoan Bonsai Collection, A Paean for the Lovable Trees published. * 1996, Hatanaka Hyō's Bonsaibachi: tōgei kanshō to shite no tanoshisa (Bonsai Pots: The Pleasure of Appreciating Ceramic Art) published. * Kyosuke Gun's series of Illustrated manuals of mini-bonsai published. * 1998, Heisei Satsuki Meihinshu (Azalea Masterpieces from the Heisei Period) published along with the Isamu Murata-edited Koshitu no Bonki (Imperial Pot Collection). * Mikio Oshima (b.1929), Susumu Nakamura (b.1932), Arishige Matsuura (b.1935), Keiko Yamane (b.1941), Hatsuji Kato (1942-2018), Kunio Kobayashi (b.1948), Natsuo Kobayashi (b.1952), Keiichi Fujikawa (b.1963), and Kenji Kobayashi (b.1970). (429) |
* 1900, three hundred Japanese dwarf trees were auctioned in London, and
Suburo Eida was importing and selling trees
in London area during this decade; around this time a brief suseok (viewing stone) boom started in Korea, but was
interrupted between 1910 and 1945 when that country suffered Japanese occupation.
(430)
* 1901, Tsumura's "Dwarf Tree" talk given in London. * 1902, first European language book (French) entirely about bonsai published. * 1903, first reference to dwarf trees in pots being cared for in Australia. * 1904, five hundred and sixty Japanese bonsai were auctioned in New York City over three-day period and trees at St. Louis World's Fair. (431) * 1906, earliest known usage of term "Hachinoki" in English in The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura is brief description of No-dance opera (and earliest description of "Dwarf Trees" story itself was nine years before). (432) * By 1907, "many of the choicest and most ancient trees have of recent been brought from Japan to England, and are now in possession of private collectors, or else are on view at one of the London establishments where these curiosities are 'stocked for sale.'" "The hospital branch of the dwarf tree business is so important that a few years ago an enterprising firm actually fetched Segiro Takagi, perhaps the most distinguished dwarf tree trainer now alive, from far Japan, and installed him as reigning spirit in a nursery in Acton." (433a) * 1908, Flowers and Gardens of Japan published; Royal Horticultural Journal published English translation/interpretation of Maumené's book as an article. (Apparently neither had much circulation/influence.); Architect Frank Lloyd Wright and others opened exhibition of Japanese woodblock prints at Art Institute of Chicago w/649 prints hung in six rooms designed by Wright which included few potted bonsai trees to give exhibition space more relaxed and intimate audience. (433b) * 1910, Japan-British Exhibition. * 1911, British Pathé made a brief film about "Tiny timber, The Art of the Dwarf Tree from Old Japan." * 1914, Panama Canal opened between Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean after second attempt to do so, drastically cutting time of passage for ships which used to have to either circumnavigate South America or Africa. Also cut down on land transport of products from American West Coast to East Coast. * 1915, San Francisco Exposition. * 1919, Plant Quarantine Law No. 37 went into effect in U.S. severely restricting entry of plant material from other countries. Most fine old bonsai brought in before this. (434) * Chinese stands had been popular in West for brief period during Victorian craze for Chinese porcelain. Bauhaus movement of 1919 then promoted industrial, streamlined aesthetic that rejected stands as "clutter," which lamentably distorted understanding of those objects whose proportions were designed to include stand as integral component. (Scholars' rocks would only begin to be collected in West after decline of Bauhaus movement a few decades later.) (435) * 1922, "Bonsai: Culture of Dwarfed Trees in Japan" article by Kiyosh Sakamoto in Gardeners' Chronicle of America from The Canadian Horticulturist. * 1925, Ernest Coe gift of trees to Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG); also Paris Exposition this year had dwarf trees on display. (436) * 1929, Thai treatise, K'lông Tamra Mai-dăt, spoke of the metaphor of their twisted trees. Forms of tree had become magic and were reduced to signs, evoking human attitudes or characters. (437) * 1932, Vita Koreshoff (1909-1985) started growing bonsai in Brisbane, Australia, four years after immigrating from his native Manchuria. (Dorothy would be his partner in this art after their marriage in 1949.) (438) * 1937, Larz Anderson collection of thirty trees donated to Arnold Arboretum. (Remaining nine trees donated in 1949.) (439) * 1937, bonsai at Japanese pavilion at Paris International Exposition won gold medal. (440) * 1941, earliest known movie including penjing: "Penny Serenade." (441) * 1942, following bombing of military base at Pearl Harbor previous December by imperial Japanese forces, Executive Order #9066 allowed creation of War Relocation Authority which interred some 110,000 persons of Japanese ancestry (75,000 were American citizens) who had been living along coast of California, Oregon, Washington, and some restricted zones in Arizona into 10 inland camps. Some bonsai were left behind; a few were made while in camps. After July 1943, loyal persons were released to live anywhere except in proscribed areas. Last camp would close in March 1946. (Too much of Territory of Hawaii's economy depended on Japanese laborers, so very few of those persons were affected by incarceration.) Almost all well-trained bonsai developed and maintained in Hawaii prior to 1941 were abandoned or destroyed following Pearl Harbor attack by panic-stricken owners fearful of apprehension as pro-Japan sympathizers by the FBI. Some of few surviving specimens were spared by being hidden in forest or planted into ground as landscape trees for length of the war. Soboku Nishihira (1903-1979) rescued most, and Haruo "Papa" Kaneshiro (1907-1991) acquired and cared for them later. (442) * By 1943, descriptions of miniature rocks covered w/dwarf plants and set in containers of water in Vietnam, nui non bô. (443) * 1946, single maple bonsai at entrance to major national collection of art which Japan had sent to San Francisco in honor of peace treaty signing year before. (444) * At end of WWII, container nursery industry started w/production of small trees and variety of shrubs in recycled #10 metal fruit cans, often scrounged from schools and restaurants. (445) * 1949, John Kiktavi's book published w/Living Ming Tree seeds offered for sale and mention of "The International Living Miniature Ming Tree League," a national club. (446) * 1950, Southern California Bonsai Club begun (eight years later would be renamed California Bonsai Society). * 1951, Anne Ashberry's Miniature Gardens published. Also about this time bonsai culture introduced in South Africa. (447) * Early 1950s, nurserymen in southern California, who had considerable experience in growing plants inside greenhouses, credited w/taking plants outdoors in containers, in a neat "package" that was easily transportable, and sale of nursery stock could expand beyond typical dormant season. W/advent of Federal Highway system, and expanding use of truck transportation, growers were able to distribute their stock all over U.S. First blow-molded plastic nursery containers, long the workhorse of the industry, soon followed as replacement for shrinking supply of metal cans. (448) * 1952, first naturally-dwarfed and twisted California junipers collected for training as bonsai by John Naka. (449) * 1953, Brooklyn Botanic Gardens' Bonsai - Dwarf Potted Trees published, partly in response to returning GI's questions of how to take care of illegally brought-home trees. (450) * 1955, Claude Chidamian's Bonsai -- Miniature Trees published, club in Cleveland established, and BBG bonsai classes started to be offered. * 1956, Honolulu Club started,and first Great Lakes Bonsai Show held (ongoing). Tatsuo Ishimoto's The Art of Growing Miniature Trees, Plants and Landscapes published. A pamphlet on formation and care of "Dwarfish plants - this is the miniature copy of pine tree, kriptomerii and some other trees, and also bushes" released by State Publishing House of Agricultural Literature, Moscow. Earliest known history of some length in English about culture of table plants/tray gardens is found in H.L. Li's Chinese flower arrangement. (451) * 1957, Yoshimura and Halford's Miniature Trees and Landscapes published after seven years of development. It would become known as "Bible of Bonsai in the West," w/Yoshimura being direct link between Japanese classical bonsai art and progressive Western approach which resulted in elegant, refined adaptation for modern world. And John Naka was a guest demonstrator on Channel 5 KTLA, Garden Chats w/Joe Littlefield. Pittsburgh Bonsai Society organized. (452) * 1958, first annual California Bonsai Society exhibition (ongoing). * Yuji Yoshimura (1921-1997) then taught classical styles in West in person and in print: on both American coasts and in Australia, for starters. * "Green Revolution," particularly starting in 1960s, spread technologies that had already existed but had not been widely used outside of industrialized nations. These technologies included pesticides, irrigation projects, synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, and production of high-yielding varieties of cereal crop seeds. * 1960, Bonsai Society of South Africa founded in Cape Town; Dawes Arboretum bonsai collection established in Ohio; suseok stone culture only began to develop again among the Korean people since this time, spreading in area of Busan in south of Korea, geographically very close to Japan and this had artistic influence. (453) * 1961, Japan Society of London formed Bonsai Group and Woodward Radcliffe's booklet Bonsai published. (454) * 1962, Bonsai Clubs Association in San Francisco formed by six Calif. groups, newsletter would eventually be known as Bonsai Magazine. (First convention three years later (ongoing); renamed Bonsai Clubs International after three more years.) Ernesta D. Ballard's The Art of Training Plants published. Also, first modern display of bonsai at Chelsea Flower Show in London. (455) * 1963, Bonsai Society of Greater New York and Pennsylvania Bonsai Society started, as well as Toronto Bonsai Society. Kashu Suiseki Kai founded in San Francisco Bay area by Keiseki Hirotsu (1903-1987). (456) * 1964, Lynn Perry's Bonsai, Trees and Shrubs, A Guide to the Methods of Kyuzo Murata and George F. Hull's Bonsai For Americans published. * 1965, Sunset magazine's Bonsai book published. (Totally revised editions in 1976, 1994, 2003.) Also, first Bonsai Clubs Association convention (ongoing). * 1967, American Bonsai Society and its Bonsai Journal started. (457) * 1968, first annual ABS Symposium (ongoing), and Bonsai Court in Japanese Garden of Huntington Botanical Garden opened (would be completely renovated in 1995). (458) * 1969, first annual edition of "Bonsai in California" printed by California Bonsai Society (would go to once every five years in 1992). (459) * 1970, bimonthly Bonsai in Australia started (till 1991) and Theodore Sturgeon's award-winning novelette "Slow Sculpture" published. * International teacher John Yoshio Naka (1914-2004). * 1971, BBG-produced 16 mm color film "Bonsai - The Art of Training Dwarfed Potted Trees" released. Fine shimpaku "Fudo" was declared dead w/out ever having become acclimated to its new home, despite extraordinarily special care. Her ancient body w/its unique beauty would be preserved at BBG. (460) * 1972, India Bonsai Society established; also, Greater New Orleans Bonsai Society founded by Vaughn Banting (1947-2008); first joint assembly of BCI & ABS memberships in convention in Kansas City, MO; and a collection of several small penjing were given to Pres. Nixon at time of his historic visit to China. (461) * 1973, Henry M. Cathey's USDA booklet Growing Bonsai published and Bonsai Societies of Florida organized w/ first convention (ongoing). Naka's Bonsai Techniques published (with volume II in 1982, and translations of each into four other languages by 1993). * 1974, Italian Bonsai Club established. (462) * 1975, easier-to-manipulate copper-anodized aluminum wire -- originally developed to be used on Satsuki azaleas in Japan -- introduced for shaping of most kinds of bonsai by this time in U.S. also. (463) * 1976, Japanese Collection of National Bonsai and Penjing Museum opened in Washington, D.C. w/gift from previous year of 53 trees and six suiseki from Japan. The South African Bonsai Book published as well as Bill and Julie Hutchinson's Suiseki in British Columbia. Venezuelan Bonsai Society formed. Japan, through its embassy, this year presented to Soviet Union collection of 44 bonsai. (464) * 1978, Golden State Bonsai Federation (GSBF) organized and first annual convention for (ongoing); first annual Mid-America Bonsai Exhibit (ongoing); Montreal Bonsai Society formed; Dan Robinson introduced use of power-tools in bonsai design -- and divided some artists for many years as this innovation changed the "rules" for the art, which would also be rewritten w/his Focal Point Bonsai Design philosophy; original bonsai exhibit opened Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach, FLA (would be remodelled and reopened in 2000). U.S. was becoming virtual Mecca in West for bonsai. (465) * 1979, International Bonsai magazine started (through 2020, afterwards going to on-line format). *1980, European Bonsai Society (EBA) founded at Heidelberg, West Germany; also, Spanish Bonsai Association in Valencia; ABS Symposium in Michigan discussed proposed establishment of The World Organization of the Bonsai Associations (WOBA) at Second World Bonsai & Suiseki Exhibition two years hence in Kyoto. (466) * 1981, Federation of British Bonsai Societies (FoBBS) formed w/conventions through year 2000, as well as Bonsai Club of Praha in Czechoslovakia and Indian Bonsai Association; quarterly Bonsai Canada Newsletter started (would become annual by 1992); Paul Lesniewicz's Bonsai published in German; and Thailand issued set of four "dwarfed tree" postage stamps in October; first annual International Bonsai Arboretum symposium held (through 2011). (467) * 1982, quarterly Italian w/English translation BONSAI: Arte e Natura started (bimonthly in 1989, merged to become BONSAITALIA Arte e Natura in 1998); also, quarterly Bonsai-Magazin in German started by Bonsai-Club Deutschland (later renamed Bonsai (GW)); and National Bonsai Foundation incorporated in Washington, D.C.; Hu Yun-hua's Penjing: The Chinese Art of Miniature Gardens published in English (second, enlargened work five years later: Chinese Penjing, Miniature Trees and Landscape). * 1983, monthly Punjae susok started in Korea. * 1984, Karate Kid movie released (Part II in 1986, Part III in 1989). Also, Vincent T. Covello and Yuji Yoshimura's The Japanese Art of Stone Appreciation, Deborah Koreshoff's book Bonsai, Its Art, Science, History and Philosophy (giving first truly cosmopolitan view of this history), and Jyoti and Nikunj Parekh's Wonderworld of Tropical Bonsai published; first annual European Bonsai Association convention held (ongoing) and first MidAtlantic Bonsai Societies symposium (ongoing); China Institute in America and Brooklyn Botanic Garden presented first Rock Penjing exhibit in Americas. (468) * 1985, Nichin Bonsai magazine started in India, Korean Bonsai Association organized and Dorothy Young's textbook Bonsai, The Art and Technique published, along w/start of Peter D. Adams' Bonsai Design series. * 1986, Peter L. and Mary Holmes Bloomer's Timeless Trees published. * 1987, first Association of Australian Bonsai Clubs Ltd. convention held (ongoing) and Spring Rendezvous at Brussel's Bonsai Nursery (ongoing), and Boteros' Hagamos Bonsai published in Spanish. Also, Hu Yunhua's Chinese Penjing, Miniature Trees and Landscapes revealed many samples of ancient poetry and literature which mentioned dwarf potted trees. (469) * 1988, National Bonsai Collection of Scotland formally opened. (470) * 1989, bimonthly Bonsai Today started, as well as Bonsai (which merged w/Dutch Het Bonsai Blad in 2000 and was renamed Bonsai Europe in 2002); quarterly World Tropical Bonsai Forum started (but damage from Hurricane Andrew would cause end of in 1993); Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection opened by Weyerhaeuser Company in Tacoma, WA (closed in 2009 due to economy but re-opened following year); Peter Del Tredici's Early American Bonsai (updated edition then in 2006) and Dan Barton's The Bonsai Book published; also, "Mica pots" originated by this time out of Korea: 80% mica, 15% plastic and 5% graphite, they are durable, light-weight, less expensive training/show containers; first Pacific Northwest Bonsai Association convention (ongoing). (471) * 1990, English translation of Rolf A. Stein's 1987 French The World in Miniature: Container Gardens and Dwellings in Far Eastern Religious Thought, whose basis was Stein's 1943 monograph which mostly dealt w/container landscapes in Vietnam. * 1991, Latin American Bonsai Federation (FELAB) formed; also, first biennial Asia-Pacific Bonsai & Suiseki convention held in Bali (ongoing), and All India Bonsai & Saikei Exhibition & Convention; Crespi Bonsai Museum opened; first Ben Oki International Design Award given (through 2006). (472) * 1992, Amy Liang's The Living Art of Bonsai and Colin Lewis' Practical Bonsai published; European Suiseki Association (ESA) organized; Internet newsgroup alt.bonsai first posted; Punjae Artpia, world's largest bonsai park, opened in Korea. Europe started rapid rise as leader in West for bonsai, possibly because of national pride among members to improve quality of trees. (473) * 1993, Internet newsgroup rec.arts.bonsai first posted, first Russian Bonsai Convention held, and Norwegian Bonsai Society and Germany Suiseki Society founded; after five year apprenticeship, California's Kathy Shaner became first non-Japanese citizen and first woman to be awarded certificate of Bonsai Master (sensei) by Nihon Bonsai Kyodo Kumiai. (474) * 1994, Elandan Gardens opened, Herb Gustafson's The Bonsai Workshop published, first Latin American Bonsai Federation (FELAB) Bonsai Encounter held (second held three years later, would then start biennial shows (ongoing).); and Bonsai Societies of Florida's First Exhibit of Bonsai occurred at the Walt Disney World's EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) near Orlando (ongoing). (475) * 1995, Alcobendas Bonsai Museum opened in Madrid. (476) * 1996, Collegio Nazionale Istruttori del Bonsai e del Suiseki (IBS) established in Italy, and first annual Carolina Bonsai Expo (which would go on for 24/25 years). (477) * 1997, German-language Natur und Mensch magazine started in Switzerland, and French Bonsaika (until 2002); first Bonsai Slovakia International Exhibition held (ongoing); first Unione Bonsaisti Italiani Congress (ongoing); first Ginkgo Awards presented, these biennial events by Danny Use would go on through 2007 and have a major effect on European bonsai, tremendously raising the standards of styling and display there with the companion albums The Best of Bonsai in Europe Vol 1-6. (478) * 1998, Hungarian National Bonsai Collection (Nemzeti Bonsai Gyüjtemény) established. (479) * 1999, Golden State Bonsai Collection-North opened in Lake Meritt Garden Center, Oakland, CA and Bonsai House at Brisbane Botanic Gardens was opened; history database on www.phoenixbonsai.com launched (transferred to www.magiminiland.org in 2016). (480) * Harry Hirao (1917-2015), Ted Tsukiyama (1920-2019), Doris Froning (1921-2014), Tom T. Yamamoto (b.1924), James J. Smith (1925-2016), Ben Oki (1927-2018), Jim Barrett (b.1929), Willi Benz (1931-2011), Modesto C. Manglicmot, Jr. (1932-2012), Tom Zane (1933-2019), F. Chase Rosade, (b.1935), Harold Sasaki (b.1936), Reiner Goebel (1937-2018), Jorge Lucero and Dan Barton (b.1938), and Warren Hill (1938-2024), Dan Robinson (b.1939), Paul Lesniewicz and Mary C. Miller (b.1941), Roy Nagatoshi and Hu Yunhua (b.1943), Walter Pall (b.1944), Colin Lewis and Jyoti Nikunj Parekh (b.1946), Jerry Meislik and Craig Coussins (b.1947), Rémy Samson and Antonio Ricchiari (b.1948), Alan Walker (b.1949), Brussel Martin (b. 1950), Bill Valavanis (b.1951), Budi Sulistyo, Michael Persiano, and François Jeker (b.1952), Arthur Skolnik (1953-2016), Tony Tickle (b.1956), Deborah Koreshoff (b.1957), Salvatore Liporace and Robert Steven (b.1958). (481) |
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