Page 21 - Tài liệu Ebook cây cảnh Bonsai and Penjing

chapter one

A National Collection of Living Arts

When the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum at the U.S. National Arboretum in
Washington, D.C. first opened its doors in July 1976, it was the first public
museum in the world devoted to the display of bonsai and penjing. With
collections representative of the Chinese art of penjing and the Japanese art of
bonsai, as well as an evolving North American collection, it is the most
comprehensive museum in the world for the display of the natural beauty in trees
writ small. The collections are wide-ranging, including some trees that have
been handed down from one generation to another, spanning centuries. Even
trees that are not old in years are fashioned to look as though they have been
aged by time. It is this combination of small and old-appearing that fascinates
the imagination, attracting visitors from all over the globe to come and stand in
awe before a little landscape in a pot.

Each tree in the collections is a work of art and has a story to tell. It is these
stories that add a deeper dimension to a viewer’s experience of each tree. Each
was created by one artist, some of whom are legendary. These artists share the
skill and eye to work with the small trees, creating works of art that capture the
essence of nature’s beauty and offering viewers a different way to perceive the
mystery of life itself.
In addition to highlighting several of the collections’ masterpieces, this book
explores the global trends, especially the West’s fascination with all things
Asian, which culminated in the creation of the National Bonsai & Penjing
Museum. It also explores the roles bonsai and penjing have played in the highest
levels of international diplomacy as ambassadors of beauty and peace.
The small trees’ role as ambassadors began centuries ago when the Chinese
art form called penjing was embraced and enhanced by the Japanese, along with
other Chinese arts like calligraphy. In Japan, the art form was called bonsai
(pronounced bone-sigh), which means “tray planting.” Bonsai now has come to
refer to all diminutive trees and plantings in containers no matter what their

origins are. Historically and today, the goal of both art forms is to distill and
evoke nature’s magnificence and grandeur into distinctive miniature living trees
or compositions.
To become a bonsai or penjing, a tree or plant with a woody stem is chosen
for its natural characteristics and for its potential form. Its roots are trimmed to
reduce its size and its branches are cut and wired to grow into the desired shape.
Most bonsai and penjing artists have an ultimate view of the tree in mind, which