Page 54 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2015Q4
P. 54
He was intrigued
by the ultra-
simplicity, which
suggested an
underlying
richness. Brook
reports that
he has always
pursued
simplicity in
literati and in
other styles of
penjing.
13
Figure 13, “A Distant Gaze” presents the cultural origins of literati in a manner the names given to the literati create wholes greater
Japanese black pine. Designed that is erudite yet accessible and engagingly than the sum of their parts. Consider Figures 13 and
by Zhao Qingquan. educational. It illuminates the cultural core not as 14, “A Distant Gaze” and “Pine Whisper on Moonlit
Figure 14, facing page an anchor but as a springboard. In correspondence, Night.” Knowing the names—given so poetically—as
“Pine Whisper on Moonlit Brook was asked, “What one thing about the literati we contemplate the artistic expression of the trees,
Night” Japanese black pine. style would you want to communicate to a child is an enriched experience. The richness reflects
Designed by Xu Haa.
studying penjing?” He replied, “Penjing is not the values and culture of the literati scholars. The
merely a re-production of nature; it is seen more as a scholars and the culture provide shoulders for those
statement of artistic aspiration.” Brook aspires to the with artistic aspiration to stand upon. In his penjing
artistic. His book is extraordinarily informative—it and his writing, Brook has stood on these shoulders
reflects depth, learning, and wisdom. and his reach has been exceedingly high.
The illustrations do not simply accompany the
words—they magnify them in the same way that
52 | BCI | October/November/December 2015
