Bonsai History

The History of Bonsai is as fascinating as the art form itself. Bonsai has become a truly international pastime and is practiced in many countries around the world, but its origins have become somewhat murky.Many early civilization can lay claim to have used potted plants for various practical purposes, however it is widely accepted that the cradle of Bonsai was China. We have scrolls and documents that show similar representations of Bonsai Trees that date back to the 3^rd century B.C. By the time of the Tang Dynasty,(618-907) we begin to see complete landscapes with rocks and trees which are called Penjing.

During this period you could imagine the first bonsai quest, spying an ancient gnarled Pine high in a mountain crag and desiring to have it as part of the garden. This was the birth of Yamadori or ‘wild collected’ trees, still one of the best methods for developing bonsai. It was only in the 12^th century that the Buddhist Monks from China brought Bonsai to Japan. From there it flourished and then it became the highly developed art form that we see today.  The Japanese are noted for their ability to ‘borrow culture’ and then make it their own in a highly classified form.

 The first major exhibit of Bonsai in the West occurred in 1909 in London by group of Japanese artists. The Londoners first impression was that Bonsai involved the “ritualized torture of little trees’. The Japanese artists were surprised by this reaction when they saw the fantastic animal shapes in English topiary gardens.

After WW2 many of the troops in Japan saw Bonsai and brought the idea back home where it spread internationally. A lot of those guys were our friends and sadly we have lost many of them in the last few years. John Naka is widely considered the ‘godfather’ of bonsai in North America and through his books, guidence and teaching many disciples were brought into the art.  One of his best students, Ben Oki, is my favorite teacher and embodies his spirit friendship and generosity .

   We should note here that thousands of years before the Japanese, Hindu botanists or Ayurvedic doctors were well aware of the practicality of transporting medicinal herbs in pots. This was known as the Vaaman Vrikshaadi or the drarfing of trees. One can assume that these natural healers were familiar with the ideas of pruning,watering and even re-potting.

 To understand the idea of Bonsai as art in Japan it is helpful to understand all of the other important arts, including; Ikebana, The tea ceremony, Haiku, Painting and the Japanese Garden. Ingrained in all these arts are concepts relating to the Eastern sense of beauty.

For instance, a Western landscape painting tend to include every detail and fill the canvas with color. In Asia a traditional scroll or painting would include the subject, a bird on a branch or a mountain, and a large amount of empty space. This simple difference has profound implications as to the Eastern sense of beauty.  Just as the idea of the ‘yin and yang,’ masculine and feminine separate two distinct realms, so does the concept of positive and negative space.  A Japanese artist would tell you that the bird in the painting is defined and emphasized by the negative space around it.  Conversely our sense of aesthetic balance tends to be 50/50, whereas in the East 60/40 is still balanced, an asymmetric approach.  These concepts are all important in the art of Bonsai. For instance, two branches across from one another (bar branch) is considered ugly or bad form.

 Despite ongoing debates as to the origins of Bonsai, the Japanese deserve a great deal of credit for perpetuating and perfecting this amazing art form. Today the level of skill and mastery portrayed in the art of Masahiko Kimura, the greatest living bonsai artist, is truly amazing.