Art of Bonsai Gardening History

Shaping miniature trees into a small pot was first introduced in China around 1,000 years. Back then, it was known as pun-sai.

Since its introduction, there have always been a vast variety of bonsai tree styles. Many have been found on ancient drawings. There are gnarled, faux-windswept trees with only a few leaves or full, flowering miniature trees that blossomed beautifully. The Chinese bonsai artists carefully manipulated the trees into replications of animals and icons, including native birds, mythical dragons and other tiny plants that were formed into perfectly fine sculptures.

Zen Buddhism spread from China to Japan. During the Kamakura period, the art of bonsai travelled far and picked up in popularity. The 12th century experienced a number of artists and new techniques that were embraced in both areas. Bonsai was already a refined skill in China, but in Japan it became a highly evolved artwork. The complexity, care and patience that is required and the creation of living art pieces were ideally suited to the temperament of horticultural artists in Japan.

First practiced in monasteries, the skill of growing a bonsai was refined by the scholars and artists that lived in this separated, rural society. Requiring the skill of a jeweler and the patience of a saint, bonsai art was ideally suited to the monks. During the 18th century, bonsai experienced a peak in popularity when the trees were considered pieces of nobility. During this time, the bonsai were popular in a number of places outside the monastery walls.

Japan went from an agricultural society to an industrial powerhouse in the 19th century and an ironic historical twist happened. The bonsai that was heretofore confined to the nobility became introduced to the general population. As Japan opened up its ports and palaces to the views of Westerners, these small, precise miniature trees drew the attention of the awestruck visitors. These Western visitors had never seen anything like these trees before and were impressed.

The practice of placing a bonsai in a “tokonoma” in every Japanese home became popular. Here, you would display special ornaments and prized, sentimental possessions, including your bonsai.

The Western world started showing museum exhibitions of bonsai as they would display animals and artifacts from the travels and conquests throughout the world. The bonsai trees were extremely popular in Vienna, Paris and London. At the Paris World Exhibition in 1900, the miniature trees were one of the biggest attractions and their popularity was assured for a long time.

As with anything that becomes suddenly popular worldwide, there was great demand for these trees and a need for mass production was called for. Bonsai trees, however, are inherently against mass production since each one is a unique creation that has to be carefully monitored over decades in order to have value as a piece of art. Bonsai are now treasured in a number of countries as the piece of artwork and value that it was originally meant to be when it was created over 1,000 years ago.

         

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