Page 15 - Tài liệu Ebook cây cảnh Bonsai Basics

THE ART OF BONSAI 17

the weight of years, the arrested foliage iar chord with this nation of born gar-
of these stunted plants reproduces the deners who lovingly manicured their
most capricious shapes nature is capable lawns, treating them like the family
of in a tree's highest branches. It has jewels. Since then, bonsai has acquired a
taken generations of men to produce the wider audience, abandoning to some
delicate gnarling of the branches, to extent its traditional mystique. It was
restrain the powerful drive of the sap, to not until 1914 that the first national
constrain these forest giants and coax show was organized in Tokyo. Since
them to grow in just a few square feet. then it has become an annual event.
This seemingly bizarre taste, this appar- ln other parts of the world the appear-
ently childish whim is one of the many ance of Japanese bonsai was not fol-
and varied aspects of their consuming lowed by any great enthusiasm. This
passion.' Bonsai may not have been 'cunning cultivation' attracted only a
taken up in France, but it was certainly few skilled devotees who delved into the
noticed. The description given shows secrets of those who 'challenged nature',
that these plants were true bonsai, as we almost always at the cost of a lengthy trip
understand them today. It is evident to Japan. It was not until a century after
from the report that the writer had seen bonsai first appeared at the Paris exhibi-
the basic bonsai wiring techniques and tion that Europeans discovered a pas-
had been shown some examples a hun- sion for bonsai. This love affair goes
dred or even several hundred years old. beyond a passing fancy and demands a
ln 1909 at the universal exhibition in deeper and better understanding of bon-
London, the English gave a resounding sai cultivating techniques. This is what
welcome to bonsai, which struck a fa mil- this book is about.

First appearance of bonsai in Europe, at the 1878 World Fair in Paris.