Bonsai 101 - Chapter 2: The Meaning of Bonsai (Past, Present, and Future)
Welcome to your bonsai journey with Bonsai Heirloom! Take a peek at Milton's bonsai insights to get you started.
Milton introduces his viewers to bonsai philosophy and the meaning behind this craft. In this video, he goes over:
What is a bonsai?
A bonsai is a healthy, rapidly grown tree kept miniature by pruning. For sure, bonsai is not a starving tree in a small pot, kept small by deprivation.
Given the benefits of bonsai keeping, it is not difficult to imagine that bonsai could become a popular houseplant! For that to happen, we must overcome the fear “bonsai is hard to keep," and we must innovate to keep bonsai easy to maintain, in keeping with our busy schedule.
In Japanese, “bons” means pot; “sai” means culture or cultivation. Bonsai in Japanese refers to a potted plant; it could mean house plant, a dwarf fruit apple tree in your patio pad, or a bonsai in its traditional form!
In Chinese, “pen” means pot: “jing” means scenery, meaning a penjing is a potted miniature scenery representation of what one might encounter in nature, at least in imagination.
An appropriate definition for us to adopt could be: Bonsai are potted trees depicting in miniature what one might encounter in nature.
A bonsai should inspire the viewer to imagine how a contorted tree developed its form reacting to the forces of nature acting upon its growing habits.
Bonsai is a living canvas for rendering an artist’s ideal scenery. Given it is living, a bonsai can and will evolve to reflect its creators’s philosophy and mindset. It is truly your unique legacy to remind future generations.
Given it takes time and devotion to create a bonsai, if you give a bonsai to someone, your bonsai will serve as a daily reminder of your thoughtfulness to that person.
And there is no better way for your children to absorb your values by osmosis. Teach the fundamentals and turn them loose so they can soar to new heights!
Origin & History
An excellent narrative on the history of bonsai can be found here
Some believe that bonsai originated in India with herbal doctors carrying potted herbs collected from high mountains going from village to village.
But it is usually acknowledged that bonsai began in China as decoration in imperial courts, by some accounts as early as during the Han dynasty (202BC). It was introduced to Japan from China via mons scholars during the Heian period (794-1185), and to the United States and Europe in the 19th century.
Some Chinese believe bonsai has its origin in Taoism, a Chinese philosophical and religious tradition believing fairies with ability to petrify and miniaturize living objects. Today many Taoist temples, such as the one in Kowloon, Hong Kong and across China have bonsai displays.
Bonsai caught the world’s attention when an extensive collection of bonsai trees was exhibited at the “L’Exposition Universelle” in Paris in 1878. Another notable event occurred in 1976 when Japan gave a major bonsai collection to the U.S. in honor of the 200-year anniversary of America’s independence.
These trees are now housed at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum in Washington DC along with specimen bonsai from around the world. I was honored to briefly serve as a director of the National Bonsai Foundation that runs the museum.
Logically, bonsai must have begun with human instinct wanting to bring nature close to home, then cultural influences kicked in.
Bonsai (as they are commonly known today) no doubt reflect Japanese culture, which emphasizes conformity. The Chinese approach – on the other hand – is less uniform, allowing deviation from the norm so long as it is reasonable and justifiable.
Together, let us start a movement with what might be called an “American Style” Bonsai that is more of a naturalist approach and reflects our American artistic heritage.
In other words, we must modernize the practice of bonsai to fit today’s lifestyle, which is often our having so much to do and so little time.
The starting point of this new paradigm must be respect for tradition, while still promoting bonsai as natural representations of nature “in miniature” – not something that’s overly contrived-looking for cultural reasons.
About Bonsai Heirloom
We document bonsai transformations and the philosophy behind them. If you're feeling inspired to begin your own bonsai journey, consider adopting a bonsai from our curated collection. Each tree is hand-selected, artistically shaped, and ready to grow with you.