Page 21 - Ebook bonsai for beginner

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THE WEST - Although known to a limited

extent outside Asia for three centuries, only

recently has Bonsai truly been spread
outside its homelands.

In 1604, there was a description in Spanish of
how Chinese immigrants in the tropical islands of

the Philippines were growing small ficus trees
onto hand-sized pieces of coral. The earliest-
known English observation of dwarf potted trees (root-over-rock in a pan)
in China/Macau was recorded in 1637. Subsequent reports during the
next century also from Japan were root-over-rock specimens. Dozens of
travelers included some mention of dwarf trees in their accounts from
Japan or China. Many of these were repeated in book reviews and

excerpted articles in widely distributed magazines. Japanese dwarf trees
were in the Philadelphia Exposition in 1876, the Paris Expositions of
1878 and 1889, the Chicago Expo of 1893, the St. Louis World’s Fair of
1904, the 1910 Japan-Britain Exhibition, and at the 1915 San Francisco
Exposition.

The first European language book (French) entirely about Japanese
dwarf trees was published in 1902, and the first in English in 1940.
Yoshimura and Halford’s Miniature Trees and Landscapes was published

in 1957. It would become known as “Bible of Bonsai in the West,” with
Yuji Yoshimura being the direct link between Japanese classical Bonsai
art and progressive Western approach which resulted in elegant, refined
adaptation for the modern world. John Naka from California extended this
sharing by teaching in person and in print first in America, and then
around the world further emphasizing the use of native material.

It was by this time that the West was being introduced to landscapes
from Japan known as saikei and a resurgence from China as penjing.
Compositions with more than a single type of tree became accepted and

recognized as legitimate creations.

Over the years, slight innovations and improvements have been
developed, primarily in the revered old Bonsai nurseries in Japan, and
these have been brought over bit-by-bit to our countries by visiting
teachers or returning traveler enthusiasts. Upon their return from Japan,