The sharari, dead trunks and rotten faces of Lingnan bonsai are thought-provoking
[Bonsai Masters' Forum]
The "sharari", "dead trunks" and "rotten faces" of Lingnan bonsai
Original author | Ye Yijian (Xinhui, Jiangmen, Guangdong)
In Lingnan bonsai there is no concept of "sharari"; there is only the use of "dead trunks" and "rotten faces" (large areas of withered wood) in dead-wood compositions to express the connotation of artistic mood and spirit. The concept of composing and creating "sharari" is a foreign shaping technique absorbed in recent times. In fact, the meanings of all three lie in expressing the philosophy of contrast between "death" and "flourishing"; the difference lies in the specific production methods, and in the differences in compositional structure, so that the artistic mood and spirit expressed are more diverse and the composition richer and more colorful.
The general understanding: "sharari" plays a decorative role on a small portion of branch pads; "dead trunks" create, within a partial composition, the philosophical effect of contrast between death and flourishing; while "rotten faces" play a guiding role in the overall composition and are the main body of the composition, gradually forming a virtual, pictographic composition dominated by dead wood. The following is a tentative discussion of the use of dead-wood compositions in the "sharari", "dead trunks" and "rotten faces" of Lingnan bonsai art.
1. Sharari: a Buddhist term. It is the crystallization of cultivated practice, called sarira, few in number, a rare essence.
In bonsai artistic shaping, its special crystallization of practice (sarira) is used symbolically in the form of a small amount of dead branches, embellishing the bonsai composition and setting off a lively atmosphere of death and flourishing. It is an overall structure in which flourishing is primary and death is secondary; the spirit lies in the connotation of sharari, and a few sparse spirit branches are the essence of sarira (regarded as testimony to the virtue of eminent Buddhist monks). See example photos 1 and 2, "Portrait of a Noble Scholar".
Photo 1 "Portrait of a Noble Scholar" Tree species: Chinese red pine Author: Ye Yijian
Photo 2 is the analytical diagram of photo 1
Brief analysis:"Portrait of a Noble Scholar", named for its spirit. "Noble scholar" refers to the scholar-officials of ancient times. Profound and broad learning, and the noble sentiment of standing alone and aloof, form a contrast with the low, shallow and vulgar. From bottom to top, section by section, sharari branch pads create dead wood, building the essence of the scholar-official's erudition, a Neo-Confucian system of step-by-step elevation, and a lofty character indifferent to fame and gain. The composition specially includes the ornament "noble scholar", the representative figure Zhuge Kongming, as corroboration (a hint). This shape is a typical Lingnan tall and slender Surén style.
2. Dead trunk:Means a withered trunk, or partially withered.
The significance of using dead trunks in Lingnan bonsai art differs from that of sharari branches; the connotation of a dead trunk lies in the balance of "death and flourishing" in the composition, inducing artistic mood and spirit through contrast and comparison, and playing a regulating and positioning role. In actual composition, whether death is greater and flourishing lesser, or flourishing greater and death lesser, the meaning expressed differs, and is thought-provoking.
For example: a pot of orange jasmine (Murraya paniculata) bonsai by Mr. Zhu Bennan titled "Combining Hard and Soft" opens people's eyes with its expression of death and flourishing. Its "death" clearly highlights the importance of "flourishing", while its "flourishing" becomes the supporter and guardian of "death". Without the maintenance of vigorous growth, its "death" would long ago have ceased to exist, and it might perhaps have become waste. This is the relationship of mutual dependence, mutual use and mutual reliance, none of which can be missing; it is the joining point of the balance of "death and flourishing". See photo 3.
Photo 3 "Combining Hard and Soft" Tree species: orange jasmine Author: Zhu Bennan
Photo 4 is the analytical diagram of photo 3
Brief analysis:Lingnan bonsai artistic shaping has always advocated "handsome-tree" bonsai. Traditionally minded dead-trunk and rotten-face shaped bonsai are not favored by people. The scars from trunk chopping and branch cultivation must heal over with rolled edges; only if no artificial scars are exposed is it a qualified work, and this is set as the measure of the maker's skill (maturity). As for dead trunks, they are considered to have no vitality, to be lifeless; the sun setting in the west, heading toward decline, a bonsai with no future. Not only is the form difficult to maintain, but the mood is inauspicious, so it has always been unpopular. The so-called "handsome tree" takes "flourishing" as the main body and completely denies the opposite of "death".
The "Combining Hard and Soft" in the photo precisely rebels against the shaping of Lingnan "handsome-tree" bonsai and becomes the opposite of "death and flourishing". Only with comparison and contrast is there a relative balance point of death and flourishing, mutually setting off and mutually echoing each other. The strong, powerful, cascading downward flowing branch relies entirely on the upright dead trunk beside it for support, and the dead trunk supporting it appears so majestic and tall that in the overall composition it feels indispensable, attracting people's gaze.
3. Rotten face: because traditional Lingnan bonsai advocates "handsome trees", there is no rotten-face shaping style, and it is likewise not favored by people.
The reason is the same as the above situation, and will not be repeated. But in the relationship of "death and flourishing", it uniquely takes "death" as primary and "flourishing" as secondary. Large areas of withered wood are the theme of the composition and shaping, an inconceivable betrayal in Lingnan bonsai artistic shaping. On the contrary, it brings viewers a sense of surprise; driven by a psychology of reversal, it gradually becomes an ugly beauty, and through the maker's careful conception and cultivation, gradually becomes a "category of its own" shaping in Lingnan bonsai. As traditional concepts change, deeper-level innovation leads the trend forward. Let us take Mr. Yuan Rongen's and Mr. Yuan Qirui's Taiwan acacia (Acacia confusa) works "Soaring" and "Majestic Iron Bones" as examples.
Photo 5 "Soaring" Tree species: Taiwan acacia Collector: Yuan Rongen
Photo 6 is the partial enlarged and split analytical diagram of photo 5
Photo 7 "Majestic Iron Bones" Tree species: Taiwan acacia Author: Yuan Qirui
Photo 8 is the partial enlarged and split analytical diagram of photo 7
Brief analysis:The two above Taiwan acacia bonsai photos are "alternative" works of Lingnan bonsai art, with abrupt forms that I fear readers may not accept. For any new thing, such a mindset is understandable; from seeing to knowing, then to familiarity, what is strange no longer seems strange, rising to acceptance, what is called going from the perceptual to the rational. In between there is criticism and suggestion; rejection and learning; encouragement and praise; I hope people can accept progress with an ordinary mindset.
The above "Soaring" and "Majestic Iron Bones" are indeed "alternative" grotesque work shapes in Lingnan bonsai artistic shaping. Amid the eccentricity, they can uphold the artistic style of Lingnan bonsai, neither departing from the basic production method of trunk chopping and branch cultivation, nor, on this basis, rebelling against the traditional style of shaping, creating uniquely "alternative" works:
1. The production process is bold and resolute; the raw material is boldly cut and discarded, adhering to trunk chopping and branch cultivation.
2. Sharari, dead trunks and rotten faces make use of natural dead wood as much as possible, because natural dead wood has already "settled its oil". (Note: after long-term weathering of the wood, the plant itself can produce an oily antibody for self-protection, resisting external weathering and erosion by pests and diseases.)
3. Any dead wood must be supplied under the protection of the cambium layer to maintain vitality and resist continued weathering and erosion by pests and diseases.
4. The "rolled edge" of the cambium layer is used to protect the process of "creating dead wood". The larger the rolled edge range, the better the vitality.
In the photos, the cambium layers of "Soaring" and "Majestic Iron Bones" clearly roll around the "rotten face"; this is a characteristic of Lingnan bonsai. As time goes on, the rolls become wider and thicker; the natural "rotten face" is like the work of ghosts and gods. It possesses the rare and strange characteristics of hollowness, transparency, wrinkles and holes, completely different from the artificial scars deliberately carved and contrived in certain works. It is all born of nature and returned to nature; this is the highest realm of bonsai art. The entire "rotten face" is outlined into a virtual mural, with lively and vivid pictorial meaning and endless associations; it is here that the artistic mood and spirit arise. In the overall composition the "rotten face" occupies most of it, and the essence lies within it.
Looking at the above dead-wood creations as a whole:"Sharari" takes flourishing as primary and death as secondary; "dead trunks" take roughly balanced death and flourishing, with contrast as primary; "rotten faces" take death as primary and flourishing as secondary. Each expresses a different artistic mood and spirit, complementing each other's strengths, rich and varied. This is the author's reflection on "alternative" innovation. To open up new thinking and a new situation for Lingnan bonsai, I spare no effort in shouting and cheering!
Highlights replay:
Chinese bonsai welcomes you!
Enjoy at any timethebonsai exhibition hall
Promote bonsai culture, exchange bonsai skills!
Appreciate bonsai art, share a happy life!