Bonsai culture is ancient to say the least. Contrary to the average belief, the discipline of growing dwarf trees in pots comes from the culture of the people who resided in what we now call China.
The art of bonsai took hold only later in Japan with the advent of Zen Buddhism and the customs of monks devoted to it.
China:
On the Asian continent, more specifically in Chinese territory, shallow earthenware vessels, almost resembling trays, were found dating back some 5,000 years. Almost a thousand years later, corresponding with the Chinese Bronze Age, these creations were reproduced in alloy and thus made more durable.
The earliest miniature landscape representations of the Chinese era, however, date back only to 2,300 years ago, when natural landscape elements that corresponded to the Five Elements of ancient Chinese theory (water, fire, wood, metal, and earth) were reproduced to scale. It was believed that representing, for example, a mountain in miniature could make the person who carved it gain magical powers, more powerful depending on the size of the representation.
The first trees replanted in pots were rather peculiarly shaped and could in no way be used for common, practical functions, as firewood for example, because they had asacred meaning. Early bonsai trees had twisted and twisted shapes that drew the body in during yoga poses, promoting the circulation of vital fluids and consequently long life.
In the centuries that followed, styles developed that were as different from each other as was the territory in which they took hold. People began to use earthenware vessels and pottery for their heat-resistant properties, and experiments were even made to shape trees with bamboo canes and brass or lead wire. Thus was born the primordial bonsai culture, described by many poets and writers and depicted by many painters who juxtaposed this discipline with a lifestyle of cultured and wise men.
Japan:
The art of miniature tree culture arrived in Japan in the Heian period (between 794 and 1185 CE), when the first landscapes reproduced on plates landed on the Japanese island from the Chinese mainland as religious souvenirs.
Among the Chinese traditions and customs imported to Japan was Chinese Buddhism, which became, in a Japanese key, Zen Buddhism: a creed that made the utmost essentiality the archetype of beauty. Zen monks developed over time an increasingly refined technique of growing mini trees called Hachi-no-ki (lit. tree-in-a-pot). Inspired by Chinese culture they drew up guidelines regarding this discipline, according to which a miniature tree contained in a vase could represent theuniverse.
The art of growing miniature trees spread to Japan in the following years. Everyone from the high ranks of the army to ordinary people owned and carefully cultivated a miniature tree. In the late 18th century, anexhibition of dwarf pine trees began to take place in Kyoto, where participants from neighboring areas submitted their plants for judging.
In the early 19th century Chinese arts scholars catalogued under the word "bonsai" miniature trees grown on shallow pots , the so-called pun (or bon, from which we derive the word bonsai, which is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word pun-tsai) thus differing from the deeper Hachi pots. Throughout the century the discipline of bonsai cultivation was the subject of many books. Many written publications were compiled concerning tools and pots to be used according to the type of plant. (Read our article on choosing a pot for your bonsai here!)
The 1923 Kanto earthquake devastated the area surrounding the town. After the catastrophe, a group of bonsai growers made the decision to move with their families to Omiya, a town with clean water and unpolluted air. Located about 30 kilometers north of Tokyo it became the town of Omiya Bonsai Village. The village's Bonsai Art Museum has been open to the public since 2010 and boasts an extraordinary collection of miniature plants, a must-see for true Bonsai enthusiasts.
