Introduction to the Suzhou School of Penjing: One of the schools of Chinese penjing

Suzhou, a city with 2,500 years of history, is located on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, on the shores of Taihu Lake, with rolling hills and a dense network of rivers and waterways. Its humid climate and abundant rainfall are ideal for the cultivation and growth of plants, providing an extremely favorable regional environment and natural conditions for the development of tree-stump penjing.

Suzhou is not only a unique water city but also a garden city that embodies the finest achievements of Eastern garden architecture. Since ancient times it has enjoyed the reputation that "the gardens of Jiangnan are the finest under heaven, and the gardens of Suzhou are the finest in Jiangnan." In the urban area of Suzhou, waterways crisscross and bridges interlace. In the past there were nearly 100 km of waterways, and today there are still 40 km; there were once 325 bridges, and more than 100 still survive today. The Tang dynasty poet Du Gouhe wrote in his poem "Seeing Off a Friend Traveling to Wu": "When you come to Gusu, you will see every household built beside the river. In the palace quarters there is little idle land; in the small lanes there are many water bridges. At the night market one enjoys water chestnuts and lotus roots; in spring the boats carry fine silk. From afar I know that under the sleepless moon, homesickness lies in the fisherman's song." From this one can glimpse the appearance of Suzhou at that time. The Suzhou dialect nurtured by this regional environment has a soft pronunciation, with each phrase turning three times, and is therefore called "the soft speech of Wu." (This is entirely different from what Zhu Wenchang points out in his "History of the Qin": "The speech of Shu is impatient and urgent, like surging waves and rolling thunder.")

Suzhou once had more than 220 gardens (and courtyards). Through the ravages of war, more than 60 still survive today, and twenty or thirty of them are open to the public. Suzhou's gardens differ from those of the wealthy merchants and gentry of other cities: not only do they have a long history, but most of them were created by the famous literary men of the day, and thus they embody a high level of artistic accomplishment and a strong humanistic spirit. The Humble Administrator's Garden, for example, was originally built by Wang Xianchen, a censor of the Ming dynasty, after he resigned from office and returned to his hometown; its site was once the former residence of the Tang dynasty poet Lu Luwang, and the setting is quiet and naturally understated. The Lingering Garden, outstanding in its architectural layout, was originally the private garden of Xu Tai, a taipu of the Ming dynasty, and later passed to Liu Rongfeng, a provincial administration commissioner of the Qing dynasty, who renovated and rebuilt it as "Cold Emerald Mountain Villa," with the cool green of bamboo and clear blue rippling light. The Canglang Pavilion, the pondside retreat of Qian Yuanliao, Prince Guangling of Wuyue in the late Tang, was purchased in the Northern Song by the poet Su Shunqing and later became the residence of Han Shizhong, a famous general of the Southern Song who fought against the Jin, and so it was called Han Garden, with winding streams and a quiet, ancient simplicity. And so on; it can be said that every garden has a "bond" with famous literary figures. Garden art and penjing art were originally a pair of "twin sisters," and the high achievements of Suzhou's garden architecture inevitably had a direct and major influence on the formation and development of Suzhou-school penjing, especially since many of the creators of these gardens were themselves lovers and makers of penjing art.

Suzhou is not only a commercial city but, more importantly, a cultural city. The quantity, quality and fame of its cultural relics are rarely matched anywhere in the country. From the early Tang dynasty onward, Suzhou was the center of cultural activity in the Jiangnan region, and its poetry, prose, calligraphy and painting were renowned throughout the country. In the Three Kingdoms period there was Lu Xun; in the Jin dynasty there were Lu Ji and Lu Yun; in the High Tang, Wei Yingwu, Bai Juyi and Liu Yuxi all served as prefect of Suzhou; in the late Tang there were Lu Guimeng and Pi Rixiu; after the Song and Yuan dynasties, even more famous literary figures came from Suzhou, and in particular the "Wumen Painting School" of the Ming dynasty, led by Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, Tang Yin and Qiu Ying, had an even more profound influence on the artistic style of Suzhou penjing. From "Zhangwuzhi" by the Suzhou native Wen Zhenheng, one can see that the tree-stump penjing of Suzhou at that time were already created in imitation of the pictorial ideas of famous painters and the poetic sentiment of famous poets, pursuing artistic realms such as "the pictorial idea of Yunlin's mountain trees." The "Gusu Zhi" says: "The people of Huqiu are skilled at planting rare flowers and unusual plants in poor soil, and at twisting pines and ancient plums, placing them on tables, elegant and delightful, and calling them penjing." Zhou Shoujuan, a famous modern Suzhou writer and horticulturist, once pointed out: "My potted plants are on the one hand creations of my own imagination, and on the other hand modeled on the highest standards, made after the famous paintings of the ancients. Those I have made over time include Tang Yin's 'Banana and Rock', Shen Shitian's 'Crane Listening to the Qin', Xia Zhongzhao's 'Bamboo Interest' and 'Half Window of Clear Green', and Wang Yanrong of the Qing's 'New Calamus and Long-Life Rock', among others." (Shen Shitian is Shen Zhou, and Wang Yanrong is Wang Yuanqi, one of the "Six Great Masters" of early Qing painting.)

Suzhou-school tree-stump penjing are divided into two major categories: the rule-based (that is, the regularity of the Sichuan school) and the naturalistic. The main form of the traditional rule-based category is called "six platforms, three supports and one crown": the trunk is twisted into 6 bends, and at each bend a side branch is kept, with 3 branches each in the left, right and back directions, tied into 9 round branch pads. The 6 symmetrical pads on the left and right are the "six platforms," and the 3 pads at the back are the "three supports"; then at the top of the tree a large branch pad is tied, the "one crown." Varied and interesting, with clearly distinguished layers. When displayed, they are generally placed in symmetrical pairs, meaning "perfect in every way," and so they were much loved by high officials, nobles and wealthy merchants; ordinary people also welcomed them, for the auspicious meaning, achieving appeal to both refined and popular taste.

Coexisting with the rule-based category is the naturalistic category. As the times advanced, by the 1940s of this century, under the bold innovation of penjing artists represented by Zhu Zi'an, it broke free from the constraints of traditional forms, adopted the technique of "coarse wiring and fine pruning," achieved rapid shaping, and endowed Suzhou-school penjing with a new spirit of the times. The so-called "coarse wiring and fine pruning" means pruning as the main method and wiring as the auxiliary: the branches and trunk of the tree stump are twisted with palm fiber into flat, slightly slanted two-and-a-half-bend S-shaped pads, then trimmed with scissors into oval shapes, slightly raised in the middle, preserving their natural form as much as possible, resembling clouds. And according to the growth habits of the tree, a "crown" is formed for each stump, which from then on no longer grows upward but extends toward the side branches, making it fuller and more beautiful. The position of the "crown" varies with the stump and changes with its tendency, in order to achieve an artistic effect of concise overall composition and profound meaning, thus becoming the main characteristic of the contemporary Suzhou-school penjing art style. Hailed as the king of Jiangsu penjing: the 500-year-old "Legacy of Qin and Han" (Chinese juniper) and "Clouds Rising in Splendor" (large Chinese pine), "Inscription of a Flourishing Age" (Chinese sweet plum) and others can all be called typical representative works of this school, and are also heirloom treasures in the national penjing art world.

Tree species commonly used for tree-stump penjing include pine, cypress, Chinese sweet plum, Chinese elm, boxwood, trident maple, pomegranate, holly and others.

The landscape penjing of the Suzhou school are also rich in the pictorial ideas of the ancients and full of strong poetic sentiment, with concise layouts and rigorous composition, vividly recreating the scenery of Jiangnan. Commonly used stones include ax-cut stone, Kunshan white stone, Taihu stone, Ying stone and others. Since the reform and opening up, as exchanges among the various schools have increased, other varieties of stone have also been introduced.

Schools of Chinese Penjing - Suzhou School Penjing

        Suzhou, a city with 2,500 years of history, is located on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, on the shores of Taihu Lake, with rolling hills and a dense network of rivers and waterways. Its humid climate and abundant rainfall are ideal for the propagation and growth of plants, providing an extremely favorable regional environment and natural conditions for the development of tree-stump penjing.
Suzhou is not only a unique water city but also a garden city that embodies the finest achievements of Eastern garden architecture. Since ancient times it has enjoyed the reputation that "the gardens of Jiangnan are the finest under heaven, and the gardens of Suzhou are the finest in Jiangnan." In the urban area of Suzhou, waterways crisscross and bridges interlace. In the past there were nearly 100 km of waterways, and today there are still 40 km; there were once 325 bridges, and more than 100 still survive today. The Tang dynasty poet Du Gouhe wrote in his poem "Seeing Off a Friend Traveling to Wu": "When you come to Gusu, you will see every household built beside the river. In the palace quarters there is little idle land; in the small lanes there are many water bridges. At the night market one enjoys water chestnuts and lotus roots; in spring the boats carry fine silk. From afar I know that under the sleepless moon, homesickness lies in the fisherman's song." From this one can glimpse the appearance of Suzhou at that time. The Suzhou dialect nurtured by this regional environment has a soft pronunciation, with each phrase turning three times, and is therefore called "the soft speech of Wu." (This is entirely different from what Zhu Wenchang points out in his "History of the Qin": "The speech of Shu is impatient and urgent, like surging waves and rolling thunder.")
Suzhou once had more than 220 gardens (and courtyards). Through the ravages of war, more than 60 still survive today, and twenty or thirty of them are open to the public. Suzhou's gardens differ from those of the wealthy merchants and gentry of other cities: not only do they have a long history, but most of them were created by the famous literary men of the day, and thus they embody a high level of artistic accomplishment and a strong humanistic spirit. The Humble Administrator's Garden, for example, was originally built by Wang Xianchen, a censor of the Ming dynasty, after he resigned from office and returned to his hometown; its site was once the former residence of the Tang dynasty poet Lu Luwang, and the setting is quiet and naturally understated. The Lingering Garden, outstanding in its architectural layout, was originally the private garden of Xu Tai, a taipu of the Ming dynasty, and later passed to Liu Rongfeng, a provincial administration commissioner of the Qing dynasty, who renovated and rebuilt it as "Cold Emerald Mountain Villa," with the cool green of bamboo and clear blue rippling light. The Canglang Pavilion, the pondside retreat of Qian Yuanliao, Prince Guangling of Wuyue in the late Tang, was purchased in the Northern Song by the poet Su Shunqing and later became the residence of Han Shizhong, a famous general of the Southern Song who fought against the Jin, and so it was called Han Garden, with winding streams and a quiet, ancient simplicity. And so on; it can be said that every garden has a "bond" with famous literary figures. Garden art and penjing art were originally a pair of "twin sisters," and the high achievements of Suzhou's garden architecture inevitably had a direct and major influence on the formation and development of Suzhou-school penjing, especially since many of the creators of these gardens were themselves lovers and makers of penjing art.
Suzhou is not only a commercial city but, more importantly, a cultural city. The quantity, quality and fame of its cultural relics are rarely matched anywhere in the country. From the early Tang dynasty onward, Suzhou was the center of cultural activity in the Jiangnan region, and its poetry, prose, calligraphy and painting were renowned throughout the country. In the Three Kingdoms period there was Lu Xun; in the Jin dynasty there were Lu Ji and Lu Yun; in the High Tang, Wei Yingwu, Bai Juyi and Liu Yuxi all served as prefect of Suzhou; in the late Tang there were Lu Guimeng and Pi Rixiu; after the Song and Yuan dynasties, even more famous literary figures came from Suzhou, and in particular the "Wumen Painting School" of the Ming dynasty, led by Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, Tang Yin and Qiu Ying, had an even more profound influence on the artistic style of Suzhou penjing. From "Zhangwuzhi" by the Suzhou native Wen Zhenheng, one can see that the tree-stump penjing of Suzhou at that time were already created in imitation of the pictorial ideas of famous painters and the poetic sentiment of famous poets, pursuing artistic realms such as "the pictorial idea of Yunlin's mountain trees." The "Gusu Zhi" says: "The people of Huqiu are skilled at planting rare flowers and unusual plants in poor soil, and at twisting pines and ancient plums, placing them on tables, elegant and delightful, and calling them penjing." Zhou Shoujuan, a famous modern Suzhou writer and horticulturist, once pointed out: "My potted plants are on the one hand creations of my own imagination, and on the other hand modeled on the highest standards, made after the famous paintings of the ancients. Those I have made over time include Tang Yin's 'Banana and Rock', Shen Shitian's 'Crane Listening to the Qin', Xia Zhongzhao's 'Bamboo Interest' and 'Half Window of Clear Green', and Wang Yanrong of the Qing's 'New Calamus and Long-Life Rock', among others." (Shen Shitian is Shen Zhou, and Wang Yanrong is Wang Yuanqi, one of the "Six Great Masters" of early Qing painting.)
Suzhou-school tree-stump penjing are divided into two major categories: the rule-based (that is, the regularity of the Sichuan school) and the naturalistic. The main form of the traditional rule-based category is called "six platforms, three supports and one crown": the trunk is twisted into 6 bends, and at each bend a side branch is kept, with 3 branches each in the left, right and back directions, tied into 9 round branch pads. The 6 symmetrical pads on the left and right are the "six platforms," and the 3 pads at the back are the "three supports"; then at the top of the tree a large branch pad is tied, the "one crown." Varied and interesting, with clearly distinguished layers. When displayed, they are generally placed in symmetrical pairs, meaning "perfect in every way," and so they were much loved by high officials, nobles and wealthy merchants; ordinary people also welcomed them, for the auspicious meaning, achieving appeal to both refined and popular taste.
Coexisting with the rule-based category is the naturalistic category. As the times advanced, by the 1940s of this century, under the bold innovation of penjing artists represented by Zhu Zi'an, it broke free from the constraints of traditional forms, adopted the technique of "coarse wiring and fine pruning," achieved rapid shaping, and endowed Suzhou-school penjing with a new spirit of the times. The so-called "coarse wiring and fine pruning" means pruning as the main method and wiring as the auxiliary: the branches and trunk of the tree stump are twisted with palm fiber into flat, slightly slanted two-and-a-half-bend S-shaped pads, then trimmed with scissors into oval shapes, slightly raised in the middle, preserving their natural form as much as possible, resembling clouds. And according to the growth habits of the tree, a "crown" is formed for each stump, which from then on no longer grows upward but extends toward the side branches, making it fuller and more beautiful. The position of the "crown" varies with the stump and changes with its tendency, in order to achieve an artistic effect of concise overall composition and profound meaning, thus becoming the main characteristic of the contemporary Suzhou-school penjing art style. Hailed as the king of Jiangsu penjing: the 500-year-old "Legacy of Qin and Han" (Chinese juniper) and "Clouds Rising in Splendor" (large Chinese pine), "Inscription of a Flourishing Age" (Chinese sweet plum) and others can all be called typical representative works of this school, and are also heirloom treasures in the national penjing art world.

Schools of Chinese Penjing - Suzhou School

Suzhou is not only a unique water city but also a garden city that embodies the finest achievements of Eastern garden architecture. Since ancient times it has enjoyed the reputation that "the gardens of Jiangnan are the finest under heaven, and the gardens of Suzhou are the finest in Jiangnan." In the urban area of Suzhou, waterways crisscross and bridges interlace. In the past there were nearly 100 km of waterways, and today there are still 40 km; there were once 325 bridges, and more than 100 still survive today. The Tang dynasty poet Du Gouhe wrote in his poem "Seeing Off a Friend Traveling to Wu": "When you come to Gusu, you will see every household built beside the river. In the palace quarters there is little idle land; in the small lanes there are many water bridges. At the night market one enjoys water chestnuts and lotus roots; in spring the boats carry fine silk. From afar I know that under the sleepless moon, homesickness lies in the fisherman's song." From this one can glimpse the appearance of Suzhou at that time. The Suzhou dialect nurtured by this regional environment has a soft pronunciation, with each phrase turning three times, and is therefore called "the soft speech of Wu." (This is entirely different from what Zhu Wenchang points out in his "History of the Qin": "The speech of Shu is impatient and urgent, like surging waves and rolling thunder.")

Suzhou once had more than 220 gardens (and courtyards). Through the ravages of war, more than 60 still survive today, and twenty or thirty of them are open to the public. Suzhou's gardens differ from those of the wealthy merchants and gentry of other cities: not only do they have a long history, but most of them were created by the famous literary men of the day, and thus they embody a high level of artistic accomplishment and a strong humanistic spirit. The Humble Administrator's Garden, for example, was originally built by Wang Xianchen, a censor of the Ming dynasty, after he resigned from office and returned to his hometown; its site was once the former residence of the Tang dynasty poet Lu Luwang, and the setting is quiet and naturally understated. The Lingering Garden, outstanding in its architectural layout, was originally the private garden of Xu Tai, a taipu of the Ming dynasty, and later passed to Liu Rongfeng, a provincial administration commissioner of the Qing dynasty, who renovated and rebuilt it as "Cold Emerald Mountain Villa," with the cool green of bamboo and clear blue rippling light. The Canglang Pavilion, the pondside retreat of Qian Yuanliao, Prince Guangling of Wuyue in the late Tang, was purchased in the Northern Song by the poet Su Shunqing and later became the residence of Han Shizhong, a famous general of the Southern Song who fought against the Jin, and so it was called Han Garden, with winding streams and a quiet, ancient simplicity. And so on; it can be said that every garden has a "bond" with famous literary figures. Garden art and penjing art were originally a pair of "twin sisters," and the high achievements of Suzhou's garden architecture inevitably had a direct and major influence on the formation and development of Suzhou-school penjing, especially since many of the creators of these gardens were themselves lovers and makers of penjing art.

Suzhou is not only a commercial city but, more importantly, a cultural city. The quantity, quality and fame of its cultural relics are rarely matched anywhere in the country. From the early Tang dynasty onward, Suzhou was the center of cultural activity in the Jiangnan region, and its poetry, prose, calligraphy and painting were renowned throughout the country. In the Three Kingdoms period there was Lu Xun; in the Jin dynasty there were Lu Ji and Lu Yun; in the High Tang, Wei Yingwu, Bai Juyi and Liu Yuxi all served as prefect of Suzhou; in the late Tang there were Lu Guimeng and Pi Rixiu; after the Song and Yuan dynasties, even more famous literary figures came from Suzhou, and in particular the "Wumen Painting School" of the Ming dynasty, led by Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, Tang Yin and Qiu Ying, had an even more profound influence on the artistic style of Suzhou penjing. From "Zhangwuzhi" by the Suzhou native Wen Zhenheng, one can see that the tree-stump penjing of Suzhou at that time were already created in imitation of the pictorial ideas of famous painters and the poetic sentiment of famous poets, pursuing artistic realms such as "the pictorial idea of Yunlin's mountain trees." The "Gusu Zhi" says: "The people of Huqiu are skilled at planting rare flowers and unusual plants in poor soil, and at twisting pines and ancient plums, placing them on tables, elegant and delightful, and calling them penjing." Zhou Shoujuan, a famous modern Suzhou writer and horticulturist, once pointed out: "My potted plants are on the one hand creations of my own imagination, and on the other hand modeled on the highest standards, made after the famous paintings of the ancients. Those I have made over time include Tang Yin's 'Banana and Rock', Shen Shitian's 'Crane Listening to the Qin', Xia Zhongzhao's 'Bamboo Interest' and 'Half Window of Clear Green', and Wang Yanrong of the Qing's 'New Calamus and Long-Life Rock', among others." (Shen Shitian is Shen Zhou, and Wang Yanrong is Wang Yuanqi, one of the "Six Great Masters" of early Qing painting.)

Suzhou-school tree-stump penjing are divided into two major categories: the rule-based (that is, the regularity of the Sichuan school) and the naturalistic. The main form of the traditional rule-based category is called "six platforms, three supports and one crown": the trunk is twisted into 6 bends, and at each bend a side branch is kept, with 3 branches each in the left, right and back directions, tied into 9 round branch pads. The 6 symmetrical pads on the left and right are the "six platforms," and the 3 pads at the back are the "three supports"; then at the top of the tree a large branch pad is tied, the "one crown." Varied and interesting, with clearly distinguished layers. When displayed, they are generally placed in symmetrical pairs, meaning "perfect in every way," and so they were much loved by high officials, nobles and wealthy merchants; ordinary people also welcomed them, for the auspicious meaning, achieving appeal to both refined and popular taste.

Coexisting with the rule-based category is the naturalistic category. As the times advanced, by the 1940s of this century, under the bold innovation of penjing artists represented by Zhu Zi'an, it broke free from the constraints of traditional forms, adopted the technique of "coarse wiring and fine pruning," achieved rapid shaping, and endowed Suzhou-school penjing with a new spirit of the times. The so-called "coarse wiring and fine pruning" means pruning as the main method and wiring as the auxiliary: the branches and trunk of the tree stump are twisted with palm fiber into flat, slightly slanted two-and-a-half-bend S-shaped pads, then trimmed with scissors into oval shapes, slightly raised in the middle, preserving their natural form as much as possible, resembling clouds. And according to the growth habits of the tree, a "crown" is formed for each stump, which from then on no longer grows upward but extends toward the side branches, making it fuller and more beautiful. The position of the "crown" varies with the stump and changes with its tendency, in order to achieve an artistic effect of concise overall composition and profound meaning, thus becoming the main characteristic of the contemporary Suzhou-school penjing art style. Hailed as the king of Jiangsu penjing: the 500-year-old "Legacy of Qin and Han" (Chinese juniper) and "Clouds Rising in Splendor" (large Chinese pine), "Inscription of a Flourishing Age" (Chinese sweet plum) and others can all be called typical representative works of this school, and are also heirloom treasures in the national penjing art world.

Tree species commonly used for tree-stump penjing include pine, cypress, Chinese sweet plum, Chinese elm, boxwood, trident maple, pomegranate, holly and others.

The landscape penjing of the Suzhou school are also rich in the pictorial ideas of the ancients and full of strong poetic sentiment, with concise layouts and rigorous composition, vividly recreating the scenery of Jiangnan. Commonly used stones include ax-cut stone, Kunshan white stone, Taihu stone, Ying stone and others. Since the reform and opening up, as exchanges among the various schools have increased, other varieties of stone have also been introduced.