Sharing the Latest Practical Insights and Experience Tips on Bonsai Making

We should seek simpler and easier methods of operation within the basic operational processes and rules. Everything has its own laws of evolution. Can we better grasp these laws? Can we scientifically and effectively change these laws in practice, making it easier for people to grasp them, to simplify concepts, and to break through traditional limitations? This is precisely the subject that contemporary bonsai practitioners need to study.

Of course, bonsai is, after all, the art of stone and wood, constrained by its materials, and empty theorizing is of no benefit. In actual creation, besides a deep grasp of traditional Eastern culture and art, one should make full use of the characteristics of the materials to reveal as much spirituality as possible. Pure rock bonsai seems somewhat similar to modern installation art; its production process involves more selection and combination of materials, and its forms of expression are freer, except that it uses the language of traditional aesthetics.

In tree stump bonsai making, the limitations are even greater. The raw materials at hand often have many irreparable defects, and the complicated branches make it hard to cut decisively. When I first pruned tree stumps, I relied only on my meager artistic sensibility, following the principles of simplicity and elegance, striving to achieve maximum simplicity and elegance without losing balance in the composition (perhaps in the eyes of professionals it still does not count). Because the selected plant species, sizes, and individual plant differences vary greatly in reality, it is hard to say there are any specific rules to follow in tree bonsai making. What is needed more often is something called aesthetic feeling, which seems somewhat similar to the inspiration of some modern artists during creation.

Tree bonsai making cannot be completed in a single day's work. Compared with one-time intensive pruning, routine frequent pruning and cutting is more important. Helplessly, in recent years I have always been wandering from place to place. Each time I return home, I find that the tree stumps I pruned last time have become lush with branches and leaves again, so I have no choice but to carry out a round of intensive pruning. But made this way, it is hard to say how much aesthetic elegance the finished bonsai has. This too is a kind of helplessness.

Large tree stump bonsai making often requires a long period of time, while correspondingly, small bonsai are often easier to shape and take form more quickly. I still remember that two years ago I found a small wild firethorn seedling by a mountain road, planted it in a small square pot, and made it into a distinctive little bonsai, with a touch of elegance. Helplessly, when I returned home this time, I found that I no longer had the chance to see it, let alone carefully trim it again.

It must also be said that bonsai making, like other arts, importantly requires a peaceful mind. If you spend all day thinking about how to sell it for a good price, you cannot make bonsai well. If you want to find a shortcut to making money, it is best not to borrow the name of art. This is a rule that applies to every kind of art without exception.