A Detailed Guide to Making Landscape Bonsai: Material Selection, Layout, Shaping and Plant Pairing

Rock Material Selection: Landscape bonsai is a scene formed by arranging and combining mountains, rocks, grass and trees in a pot. Rock material is the main material for creating landscape bonsai. There are many kinds of rocks, most of which are mined from nature, and their texture, color and crack patterns all have a natural essence. When selecting materials, first note that the natural characteristics of the stone should determine what kind of natural landscape shape it is suitable for. If what is chosen is a set of sandy limestone with upright, concise crack patterns, a long strip shape and natural outlines as the material for a bonsai, then it is certain that these materials are most suitable for a shaped landscape of sharp sword-like peaks, tall and upright. When selecting materials, note that the texture, type and crack patterns of the materials must be unified. For one bonsai, it is best to use only one category of material, and the colors should not differ too greatly.

(Cutting, sawing and chipping of rocks)

Chipping the Outline of the Mountain Body: When making a landscape bonsai and selecting materials, we must first observe the top outline line of the stone and stimulate our conception, repeatedly weighing it. Whether hard stone or soft stone, when the arrangement of the outline line is not clearly undulating, it must be chipped so that it becomes distinctly undulating and full of rhythm.

Sawing and Bonding: Most of the time, a single piece of stone cannot form the complete picture of a landscape bonsai, so multiple pieces of stone must be combined to form the landscape. Stone is generally natural and unprocessed, so according to the landscape requirements it must be sawed, connected and bonded. Stone is sawed with a cutting machine or a steel saw, and can also be broken apart and leveled with a hammer. Then cement, or cement mixed with color, or other adhesives are used to bond it into shape.

Adjusting Crack Patterns and Staggering: Generally speaking, a landscape bonsai requires the crack patterns on the stone body to be roughly consistent, so that the landscape picture appears more unified. However, because of differences in the stone itself, while choosing as much as possible a premise of natural texture and consistent lines, sometimes stones whose texture and crack methods are not obvious or whose textures differ greatly must have their crack patterns adjusted. Adjusting crack patterns is generally done by picking, hollowing, tapping and sawing, depending on the soft or hard nature of the stone. If some textures really cannot be adjusted out, then stones of roughly consistent color can be used for staggered joining to form a larger block surface with obvious concave-convex crack patterns, meeting the requirement of a unified and vivid landscape.

The Shaping and Style of Landscape Bonsai

Creative conception is an important part of bonsai creation. The creative conception of a bonsai is in fact a process of determining an artistic mood and conceiving and expressing this artistic mood. Generally speaking, there are two ways of expression:

① First determine the conception, and according to this conception, through planning select appropriate materials such as trees, stones, mountains and grass, and arrange and combine them in the pot space to complete this conception.

② According to the shape characteristics of specific mountains, grass, trees and stones, generate a certain conception, then conceive and use the shape characteristics of these mountains, stones, grass and trees to arrange and combine them to complete the composition of a certain landscape and artistic mood. Because the composition of a bonsai landscape is limited by the figurative materials, this method of conception and planning is a way of combining conception with production commonly used in the shaping of landscape and various combined bonsai.

Because landscape bonsai is the arrangement and combination of mountains, rocks, grass and trees in the pot space, this combination has a certain law of mountain momentum or structural combination.

Landscape bonsai generally has the idea of opening and closing in landscape shaping. A landscape bonsai with a complex mountain body generally has a method of establishing momentum with one opening-closing, two opening-closings or three opening-closings. Opening and closing means that in a landscape bonsai there is a complete mountain body landscape composed of host, guest, scattered-point stones and so on. When the mountain body is placed in the pot, it can form a visual unit with a spatial position in the pot. Because of the effect of "tension" in the compositional sense (omnidirectional two-way radiation), people's visual psychology produces a sense of expansion (that is, "momentum"), which has the effect of occupying space. At the same time, because it has directionality in three-dimensional space (for example, the orientation of the mountain body in the pot), and occupies space asymmetrically, it forms a kind of dynamism in people's visual psychology and on the picture. The creation of dynamism is in fact the imbalance caused by the radiation in the picture of the expansion lines of visual units such as points or block surfaces, and this is related to the position of the mountain body's decisive surface in the "gestalt space."

Chinese Landscape Painting Theory

(A landscape bonsai with a one-opening-closing layout) When discussing the layout of the mountain body in the picture, it says: "If you want it to the right, you must first place it to the left; if you want it to the left, you must first place it to the right; if you want it above, you must first place it below; if you want it below, you must first place it above." This incisively discusses the characteristics of the dynamic tension of picture composition. Therefore, the so-called "momentum" is a kind of visual tension and sense of expansion produced in people's visual psychology when the mountain and rock surfaces occupy space asymmetrically and directionally in the pot. It is precisely this tension and sense of expansion that make us feel that in the landscape bonsai shaping, the static mountain body has a kind of dynamism, a rhythm and a rhythmically moving direction of mountain momentum.

Since the "momentum" in landscape bonsai is obtained through "placement" ("placement" means arrangement and combination like deploying troops), then when arranging and combining the block surfaces of the mountain body, the tension of the mountain body inevitably forms a tension quality rich in variation, that is, different "momentum." Generally speaking, the "momentum" of landscape bonsai includes several aspects such as "start," "continuation," "turn," "join," "fall" and "knot."

In a landscape bonsai shaped landscape with a one-opening-closing arrangement, when we place the host mountain in the pot, we are in fact positioning the main momentum in the picture space. The positioning of the main momentum we call the "start" momentum;

Placing guest mountains second only to the host mountain in a staggered way on the left or right of the host mountain, so that there is a transition and continuation between the momentum of the host mountain and the momentum of other mountain bodies, we call the "continuation" momentum. There are two kinds of "continuation" momentum, namely "direct continuation" and "reverse continuation";

The guest mountain is generally a mountain body opposite the host mountain and having a unity-of-opposites relationship with the host mountain's direction of momentum. In the overall picture of the landscape it forms an opening-closing of a general momentum with the "host" momentum, and its direction of momentum is opposite to the main momentum, so it is called the "turn" momentum;

When the momentum of the host mountain falls, sometimes there is a transition, sometimes there is no transition. If there is a transition, then the landing point of the transitional mountain body must be found, and this landing point is the "fall" momentum. Generally, in landscape bonsai, the accompanying mountain body close to the host mountain is the landing point of the host mountain body's momentum.

And the joining point in the pot surface space of the momentum of the host mountain and the momentum of the guest mountain is the knot point of a one-opening-closing shaped picture of a landscape bonsai, called the "knot" momentum. This knot point is usually expressed by the scattered-point stones in the bonsai picture.

Sometimes, we adorn or plant on the host mountain or guest mountain a plant or ornament flying out horizontally, which will inevitably break the balance of the situation formed by the host mountain and other mountain bodies in the picture. We generally call this the "running" momentum or "breaking" momentum, because "running" or "breaking" increases or changes the tension of the momentum of the whole relatively balanced picture, so that when people view the bonsai, the line of visual psychological tension appears to rush outward.

Foil and contrast are also very important in the shaping of rock landscape bonsai. The meaning of foil and contrast is fairly broad and relative. For example, the foil and contrast of large and small, the foil and contrast of subject and object, the foil and contrast of sparse and dense, the foil and contrast of hidden and revealed, and so on, the foil and contrast of void and solid, the foil and contrast of front and back, the foil and contrast of stone and tree. These must all be concretely embodied according to the creative theme and creative technique. Only by mastering the laws of creation can one "apply them with wonderful skill, all depending on the mind."

The Use of Scattered-Point Stones in the Landscape

The positions of the host and guest mountain rocks in the pot of a landscape bonsai are extremely important. Their spirit, volume and situation directly relate to the level of the artistic mood of the work. But whether their function is prominent or not is also related to the use of a kind of accompanying body that is usually ignored -- the scattered-point stones.

Scattered-point stones are an accompanying body placed in scattered but orderly group form in the blank water-surface space of a landscape bonsai. They themselves have the nature of "points" in the compositional sense, and are a kind of visual unit with a spatial position. When people's line of sight concentrates on them, a sense of expansion is produced in people's visual psychology. Therefore, they themselves can play the role of occupying space and dividing space.

The functions of scattered-point stones are mainly shown in the following aspects:

As accompanying objects of the host and guest mountain bodies in the bonsai: The characteristic of bonsai is to see the large in the small, but no matter how large the bonsai, the volume of its host and guest peaks is limited. In order to make people psychologically feel a sense of "one peak makes Mount Tai seem a thousand fathoms high" when appreciating it, some low and small accompanying objects must be used to highlight the host peak and guest peak, making them appear much larger than their actual existence and increasing their sense of volume. Scattered-point stones play an excellent foiling role in this respect.

(Scattered-point stones as accompaniment to the host mountain body)

As dividers of the blank space of the water surface at the foot of the mountain: Bonsai is a three-dimensional shaping, and it cannot be like landscape painting, letting the mountain float in midair with clouds or something else omitted below. The mountain rocks in the pot must have roots and be firmly seated. When we set the host and guest mountain rocks firmly in the pot, the remaining blank space needs careful handling. A saying in bonsai circles goes, "Peaks are easy to set, but the foot is hard to handle," which refers to this procedure. And the arrangement of scattered-point stones is the handling and division of the blank water-surface space at the foot of the mountain. As said earlier, scattered-point stones must produce a sense of expansion in people's visual psychology and have a tension effect, so that they can exert the effect of occupying space in the blank space. Therefore, if the arrangement of scattered-point stones is appropriate, the water surface at the foot of the mountain can be reasonably divided and full of variation.

(Division of blank space by scattered-point stones)

In landscape bonsai, especially in a bonsai with a one-opening-closing arrangement, they play the role of the "knot" momentum: We know that in bonsai, especially those with host and guest mountain bodies existing at the same time, in a bonsai with a one-opening-closing arrangement, their direction arrangement generally contains four links: "start, continuation, turn and knot." The so-called "gaining momentum at every level" refers to the organic combination of these four links, and the "knot" is the completion point of these four links. Scattered-point stones are precisely such a "knot point." In a whole picture full of spirit and vividness, they play the role of gathering momentum and give the final explanation for the development of the mountain body's situation.

(Scattered-point stones playing the role of knot point in a one-opening-closing arrangement)

When using scattered-point stones for layout, the following aspects should be noted:

① A bonsai is not a series product in production, but a work of art in a thousand postures and a hundred attitudes. For each bonsai, even if it has the same opening-closing layout format, the arrangement and situation of its host and guest mountain bodies are somewhat different. This requires us, whether using scattered-point stones to divide blank space or to "knot momentum," to have a certain flexibility, but it must obey the development of the direction of the mountain momentum of the whole picture and the needs of handling the blank water-surface space at the foot of the mountain, and complement the whole picture appropriately. That is to say, it must achieve "form scattered but spirit not scattered."

② The use of scattered-point stones requires a mixture of large and small. Because scattered-point stones are different in size, the visual psychological expansion force they produce is different. Large scattered-point stones have greater visual tension and a greater effect of occupying space, while small scattered-point stones are the opposite. Therefore, placing large scattered-point stones reduces the "blank space" of the blank space, while placing small scattered-point stones leaves relatively more "blank space." Using the two together can create an organic combination of scattered-point stones and blank space, as the painting theory says: "Where there is black, consider white; where there is white, consider black." And it breaks the dullness and monotony of the blank space, creating a specific artistic effect.

③ Different spatial positions occupied by scattered-point stones can also divide space unevenly. In the same blank water surface at the foot of the mountain, different positions of scattered-point stones (even if their own volumes are the same and their visual expansion forces are equal) may also divide space unevenly and break the balance and monotony of the blank. But note that if scattered-point stones of the same size are arranged evenly in the blank water surface at the foot of the mountain, they cannot play this artistic role, because this in fact becomes a geometric form of arrangement. At the same time, when scattered-point stones play the accompanying role of host and guest mountain bodies, they must suit the face and the tree and vary appropriately, so that they are in harmonious proportion with the host and guest mountain bodies. For example: one cannot use a piece or a group of pointed and thin scattered-point stones as the accompaniment of a round and full host or guest body, nor is it appropriate to place under a relatively short host or guest mountain body a piece or a group of scattered-point stones of similar or equal volume to it. This not only fails to play the role that scattered-point stones should play, but also ignores the difference between "body and surface" and "point" in compositional art.

④ For the plant arrangement of scattered-point stones, moss and grass are mainly used. For example, Acorus gramineus, Saxifraga stolonifera and star grass can be used for decoration. This also conforms to the expression method of "sparse dots of grass and moss." At the same time, ornaments such as pavilions and terraces can also be placed on them to deepen the theme of the bonsai.

Choosing a Pot for Landscape Bonsai

Because the landscape of a landscape bonsai leaves a large amount of water surface and is adorned with low scattered-point stones and boat-and-raft pavilions, a large marble water basin with an extremely shallow rim is generally chosen. The shape of the water basin depends on the shape, color and shaping of the stone material, and oval, round and rectangular shapes may be chosen. The color is generally white. Purple clay water basins and earthenware water basins can also be used for rock landscape bonsai shaping, but because of limitations in color and depth they are usually only used for relatively special stone materials or shapes. No matter what kind of pot is chosen, the main purpose should be whether the shaping and landscape effect is highlighted by foil.

(For landscape bonsai, the pot should be shallow with a broad water surface)

Planting of Plants and Adornment of Accessories

After the rock combination shaping of a landscape bonsai is completed, plants should be arranged and accessories adorned. Painting theory says: "In the body of a mountain, stone is the bone, trees are the clothing, and towers, terraces, pavilions and bridges are its adornment." Stone is a lifeless shaping solid, while trees are the symbol embodying the life of its landscape. A saying goes: "Stone is easy to set, but plant arrangement is hard," which shows the importance of plants in rock landscape bonsai. Those in the know all have this feeling: after the rock shaping is completed, the bonsai landscape is in fact only half completed, and it can only be considered complete after plant arrangement. Often the energy and time spent on plant arrangement exceed the time used to combine the stone materials.

(Adornment of plants and accessories)

For arranging plants, those with fine leaves and short branches are better, and different landscapes are paired with different plants. For example, for a solitary-peak landscape, plants with relatively old and thick branches and trunks may be chosen; for clustered peaks standing like walls, a combined arrangement of dense forest may be chosen; for gentle mountain slopes, short plants may be adorned and arranged. At the same time, techniques such as setting off, adorning, interspersing, flying out, overlapping and dense planting may be used for concrete operation, but note the general rule of proportion in plant arrangement, the rule of "ten-foot mountain, one-foot tree." On the whole, it is still better to arrange plants according to the compositional principle of "start, continuation, turn, knot and join."

Accessories play the role of pointing out the theme or serving as foil in landscape bonsai, but note that the creation of landscape bonsai should not mainly rely on adorning accessories, but should mainly rely on landscape shaping. Accessories must not be piled up or placed randomly; they must be properly hidden and revealed, sparse and dense, and must stress the rule of "near large, far small" and perspective relationships.

Material Selection and Shaping Procedure for Water-and-Land Bonsai

Production and Management of Landscape Bonsai

Production and Management of Landscape Bonsai

The production of landscape bonsai is in fact a special kind of artistic creation of Chinese landscape painting. Its creative process is usually divided into five parts: conception, material selection, layout (composition), working, and accent placement. First comes conception, establishing the subject matter and the creative theme; then the materials are selected according to the author's intention, but sometimes certain materials may be obtained first, and then conception is carried out based on the materials obtained, conceiving according to the material, determining the theme to be expressed, and then composing, working and placing accents according to the needs of the theme. This is also a special aspect of landscape bonsai creation.

1. Conception

"Conception" is a process of artistic thinking, and also a very necessary process of brewing and pondering before creation. The ancients said: "In all landscape painting, the idea comes before the brush," which is exactly this principle. In creating bonsai, one must also first conceive, think, sketch out a draft, and prepare a mental outline. Is it to express the scenery of Guilin, or the scenery of Huangshan; is it to express beautiful rivers and mountains, or majestic, powerful famous mountains and great rivers; is it overlapping peaks and clustered towering rocks, or leisurely tranquility and broad openness; is it strange or perilous, tenacious or firm, steep or secluded. What form of expression to adopt, what stone material to choose, what kind of pot to use, what kind of plants to select, and so on, must all be repeatedly pondered. Ancient painters once said: "If the idea is extraordinary, it will be extraordinary; if the idea is lofty, it will be lofty; if the idea is far-reaching, it will be far-reaching; if the idea is deep, it will be deep; if the idea is ancient, it will be ancient; if it is mediocre, it will be mediocre; if it is vulgar, it will be vulgar." This is the important significance of conception and thinking, so as an author of landscape bonsai, one must certainly possess relatively high artistic cultivation and rich cultural knowledge.

"Within a foot one can gaze at a distance of ten thousand li; within a square inch one can discern the steepness of a thousand fathoms." Every peak, every stone, every ridge, every valley, every blade of grass, every tree in the pot must be carefully considered and must not be placed at random. As someone has pointed out: "Peaks have a steep and rugged posture, ridges have a round and mellow posture, ranges have a flat and level posture, cliffs have a perilous posture, valleys have a deep and secluded posture, distant ranges and far peaks have a layered and overlapping posture." In making landscape bonsai, sometimes the conception is affected by the limitations of the stone material. Therefore one must adapt to the stone, apply color according to the category, and determine the theme according to the natural form of the stone material. For example, white Xuan stone and sea-mother stone are suitable for expressing snow scenes. In addition, the conception must also have new ideas and must be creative.

2. Material Selection

Material selection mainly means choosing the stones and the pot.

① Selecting stones: The main scenery of a landscape bonsai is composed of many mountains, and the mountains are in turn composed of many stone materials combined together. There are many kinds of stone materials, each with its own natural texture, form and color, and all possessing a strong natural flavor. This is something other artworks do not have, and is also a major feature of landscape bonsai.

The stone materials used for making landscape bonsai can generally be divided into two major categories: hard stones and porous stones. Hard stones are generally not suitable for carving and chiseling, because after working, the wrinkles are not natural enough and lack a natural flavor. Since the new cross-sections of hard stones after being broken are relatively flat and smooth and do not have grain, hard stones are usually not suitable for carving or striking, and only the working methods of sawing and joining are adopted. Therefore, for hard stones, the requirements for form are very high in stone selection. Since the new cross-sections of most porous stones are rough and uneven, with relatively natural grain, porous stones can be carved and struck, and their shapes can be adjusted relatively freely; when selecting porous stones, the requirements for their natural form can be lower, and the author can adjust them freely.

The form of the stone material must be natural and must have the appearance of mountain peaks and mountain slopes. For hard stones, those with good peak-and-ridge forms must be selected; if soft stone materials have relatively good peak-and-ridge forms, so much the better, because natural forms always possess more natural flavor than artificially adjusted ones. If soft stone materials do not have natural peak-and-ridge forms, certain methods must be adopted to adjust them. When adjusting, one must prevent the artificial traces from being too heavy, which would cause a loss of naturalness; this requires the author to have relatively high artistic cultivation and skilled technique.

The grain of the stone material is distributed on the surface of the stone, formed over thousands of years by the impact, washing and corrosion of rainwater, resulting in very natural and regular stripes. The combination of these stripes makes the peak-and-ridge forms of the stone material more lifelike and natural. The surface grain of some stone materials is similar or identical to the wrinkles of Chinese painting, and the landscape bonsai made from them easily achieves a pictorial effect, with very good results. Therefore, the work of selecting stone grain is also very important.

The color of the stone material must also have a natural flavor; it must not be too dark or too light, and even less too bizarre, otherwise it easily loses truthfulness. Color, form and grain are a unified whole that set each other off and influence each other. The color of the stone material is also related to a certain extent to the theme being expressed; for example, white stone material is a good material for expressing landscape bonsai with a snow scene as the subject, and gray stone material expresses the towering majesty of mountain bodies. Therefore, when selecting stones, one must consider comprehensively and in an integrated way.

Usually there are two different situations in selecting stones. One is "selecting material according to the idea": before creation, first determine the theme, then choose the type, shape, grain and color of the stone material according to the creative intention. For example, to express tall and towering peaks, one should choose stone material with a straight grain and slender shape; to express the flat and distant landscape of Jiangnan, one should choose porous stone with a low, flat, rounded peak top; to express a snow scene, white Xuan stone and sea-mother stone are very good materials. Selecting material according to the idea first determines a specific theme and artistic conception, but due to the limitations of materials, sometimes suitable materials may not necessarily be found. Only during the working process can appropriate adjustments be made, but to achieve no or few artificial traces, as if naturally formed by heaven, is sometimes still very difficult. So there is also another approach called "conceiving according to the material," that is, deciding the creative theme according to the type, shape, grain and color of the materials obtained. For example, if the mountain peak obtained is a tall and upright stone, it is suitable for expressing steep landscape; if the peak top obtained is round, it can be used to express the flat and distant landscape of Jiangnan. Conceiving according to the material can give full play to its natural flavor, and the bonsai created has a very high style, but in some cases, it may sometimes have a slight influence on expressing the author's thoughts and feelings.

② Selecting the pot: The composition of a bonsai is one scenery, two pot, three stand, so the pot occupies second place in bonsai; when appreciating a bonsai, enjoying the scenery and enjoying the pot are equally important. The pot is a foil to the scenery, just like the relationship between a person and clothing; a beautiful person wearing suitable clothing can better set off the person's beauty, so someone said: "A person relies on clothing, a horse relies on the saddle," which speaks of the role of "clothing." The pot is also like this; the pot sets off the scenery and is the "clothing" of the scenery. Someone said: "The modeling of landscape bonsai is beautiful, and with the foil of an exquisite pot, the two can bring out the best in each other." But the pot is there to set off the scenery, so the whole picture must not overemphasize the role of the pot, and one must avoid concentrating people's attention on the pot. This is the correct view on using pots.

The pots used for landscape bonsai are mostly shallow pots with no drainage hole in the bottom, so as to store water and express the vastness of rivers, lakes and seas. Shallow pots in the past were deeper than those of today, in order to store more water. But the raised rim of a deep pot is relatively high, its outer dimensions are not very attractive, and at the same time it obstructs the line of sight; it is not as good as a shallow pot for viewing the winding undulations of the mountain foothills and slopes and the beauty of water-surface accessories such as boats and rafts. The rim of a deep pot is about 2 cm high, the proportions are not harmonious enough, and the appearance is not attractive, appearing rigid. The height of a shallow pot is generally between 0.5 and 1 cm, and its appearance is especially elegant and soft. From the current situation, shallow pots are mostly carved from white marble (marble), followed by glazed pots; purple clay pots are generally seldom used, and extra-large landscape bonsai sometimes use cement pots or stone pots. As for the color of the pot, white is generally still the best; if other colors are used, light colors are preferable. The pot used should be determined according to the content expressed by the landscape bonsai and the color of the stone material. For example, to express an ocean scene, the bottom of the pot can be a light sky blue similar to seawater; when water is stored, the color of the pot bottom can dye the water sky blue, closely resembling ocean waves. To express a lake, the bottom of the pot can be light green, dyeing the lake water light green. The color of the pot bottom should not be close or similar to the color of the stone material. For example, white Xuan stone and sea-mother stone must be paired with a colored pot to stand out. Of course there are exceptions; for example, pairing white Xuan stone and sea-mother stone with a white pot is one way to express a snow scene. Dark stone material paired with a dark pot expresses a night scene; for stone material with relatively deep color, a white pot is still preferable. This is like painting on a white pot; the scenery expressed is more conspicuous, and the picture is clearer and softer.

As for the shape of shallow pots, rectangular, oval or long oval are relatively common and are also very widely used. There are also square and round ones, mostly used for solitary-peak-style landscape bonsai. Others such as hexagonal, octagonal, fan-shaped, crabapple-shaped, boat-shaped and irregular flat surfaces are mostly suitable for special forms of landscape bonsai. Generally speaking, the shape of the pot should not be overly complex. Rectangular pots are relatively neat and generous, often used for landscape bonsai of the weighted-side type, opening-and-closing type, overlapping type, etc., mainly to express majestic and upright peaks. Oval pots have relatively graceful lines and are suitable for expressing content with beautiful scenery and an open picture. Generally, the length-to-width ratio of rectangular and oval pots is about 2.5:1; the specific ratio also depends on the content expressed in the picture. When using long slab-like stone material, the pot should preferably be somewhat narrow and long; for stone types with greater volume such as Yingde stone and sandstone, the pot should be appropriately wider; to express towering peaks, the pot should also be narrower; to express a broad water surface, the pot should be wider. If the pot used for landscape bonsai is too large, the mountain peaks will appear relatively short and small; if the pot used is too small, it will make the scenery crowded and cramped.

3. Layout of Landscape Bonsai

Layout is artistic conception, that is, composition design; it is a comprehensive thinking and design based on the theme and artistic conception determined by the conception and the selected stone material or other materials. Layout is a complex work of artistic conception, and comprehensive consideration must be given according to the laws of composition. Such as the determination of the modeling form, the selection and working method of the main peak stone, the determination of the position of the main peak in the pot, the selection of the texture, form and size of the pot, the selection and working method of the secondary peaks and slope-foot stones and their placement positions, the treatment of the water surface (blank space), the selection and arrangement of plants and various accessories, and so on. So layout is the process of determining the working method of the stone material and arranging the worked peak stones and so on into the pot according to the principles of composition.

The main peak is the center of gravity of a landscape bonsai and should be in the most prominent and most conspicuous position. First select the material for the main peak from the stones; the main peak should be the best among the group of peaks in terms of volume, grain, shape and color. Then determine the working plan. The main peak should not be placed in the exact center of the pot, nor at the edge; usually it is at 2/3 (or 1/3) of the pot's length. The main peak has an obvious directionality, and a certain space should be left in the direction it faces.

After the layout of the main peak is completed, the next step is how to arrange the secondary peaks and slope feet at all levels. The secondary peaks and slope feet must be consistent with the main peak in texture, shape, lines (that is, grain), color and direction; the secondary peaks should echo the main peak, and the secondary peaks at all levels should surround the main peak in front and on the left and right, to form a very complete mountain system. They should not be piled stones, and one must especially avoid each going its own way with no organic connection. Because the secondary peaks set off the main peak, the secondary peaks themselves must not be prominent; for example, in volume they must be clearly smaller than the main peak, achieving "the guest does not overpower the host, the guest follows the host." The secondary peaks are also not all the same height; there must also be a distinction between primary and secondary, that is, of two adjacent peaks one must be primary and one secondary; the general trend of the heights of the secondary peaks outward from the main peak is to gradually descend, to form a mountain situation that goes from high to low. Adjacent two levels of secondary peaks or slope feet must not be the same height; they must be full of variation, with treatment of winding undulations and unevenness. As the theory of painting says: "Large and small alternating, high and low uneven, gathering and scattering appropriate, varied and graceful."

When arranging peak stones, there must certainly be exposure and concealment, and one must avoid taking everything in at a glance; the more the scenery is concealed, the higher the realm. Each peak stone should be about half concealed, only then can the mountain situation of repeated mountains and waters and peaks flanking each other be shown. If caves, water, paths and pavilions are partly concealed, there will be the scene of winding caves, swirling water, and pavilions appearing and disappearing. If the scenery has both exposure and concealment, deep and unfathomable, it is not only "thought-provoking" and "endlessly memorable," but can also create infinite scenery within a limited pot. This is also what people often say: "A room need not be large to be elegant, flowers need not be many to be fragrant." A few small mountain stones, overlapping and arranged, as long as the layout is appropriate, can form the situation of clustered green mountains and shifting clouds and mist; this is the principle of so-called "using less to defeat more, using simplicity to defeat complexity."

Layout must also pay attention to density within sparseness and sparseness within density; it must not be set evenly. The layout must not be too scattered, nor must it be filled everywhere, bloated and cramped. The layout of host and guest stones should preferably be arranged in the manner of a scalene triangle. Pay attention to the mutual generation of the substantial and the empty, with emptiness within substance and substance within emptiness. In a landscape bonsai, the mountain body is substantial and the water surface is empty. The ancients said, "If the picture is three parts blank, vitality will arise accordingly," so the treatment of blank space in the picture must be appropriate. There must be a certain water surface; this is emptiness within substance. The vast water surface makes one broad-minded and relaxed and happy; a few white sails dotted on the water and one island reef after another will make one not feel it is empty; this is substance within emptiness. Overlapping mountains and confronting ridges, if separated by a sliver of sky, can achieve the effect of "brightening one and revealing thousands," so that no feeling of crampedness arises within the substantial.

4. Working of Landscape Bonsai

① Tools and Materials

Stone-cutting machine: used for cutting stone material; it is a kind of machine with a circular saw blade driven by an electric motor, with relatively high production efficiency, and can cut stone material for large bonsai.

Chisel: made of hard steel, available in pointed-tip, flat-tip and various specifications and sizes. Used for carving stone material, or for opening holes in stone for planting, and also used to repair the grain on stone material.

Hacksaw: a tool for sawing stone material; because it is operated by hand, it is only suitable for sawing porous stone; a few medium-hardness thin slab-like axe-cut stones can also be sawed directly with a hacksaw. But water must be added when sawing; this method has low efficiency and is not suitable for use by production departments.

Hammer: there are two kinds of hammers. One is an ordinary iron hammer, used for striking the steel chisel; the other is a stone-working hammer, flat on one end and pointed on the other; the flat end is for carving the outline and grain of the stone, and the pointed end is for carving caves and gullies. Hammers can be made in three specifications, large, medium and small, for working stone materials of different sizes.

Graver: used for carving the wrinkles on porous stone; it can be made by modifying a broken saw blade.

Scraper: used for mixing cement, pointing joints, and scraping off moss; it is a paint-scraping knife.

Sieve: used for sifting stone chips and yellow sand.

Brush: for brushing off mud and dirt on the stone body before working, and also for brushing off stone chips and cement after working. Use a paint brush.

Steel wire brush: for cleaning dirt on the surface of mountain stones and removing debris in the crevices of stone material.

Sprayer: used for spraying mountain stones and plants.

Cement and resin glue: mostly cement mixed with 107 glue, used for gluing mountain stones when joining.

Pigment: mixed into cement to adjust it to a color close to the stone material, such as Yingde stone, axe-cut, Baijia black juice.

Yellow sand: used for mixing with cement to increase the strength of the cement.

② Working the Stone Material

Washing: before working, first clean off the mud or other debris on the surface of the stone material, so that the grain and color are correctly revealed. Use a paint brush or steel wire brush as the tool.

Marking: on the selected stone material, according to the heights of the various peak stones determined by the composition, draw the sawing lines and, according to the composition, draw the outline lines, or the positions and sizes of caves, etc. When drawing the sawing lines, first mark the main peak and the main secondary peaks; when marking, first lay the main peak stone flat on the tabletop, then lay the main secondary peak stones flat beside it, pad them level, equivalent to a group of mountain stones lying flat, then move the stone material up and down, and according to the main peak height, grain and form determined during composition, determine the best cutting positions and the best outline line positions for the main peak and secondary peaks. If, when marking, it is found that a certain peak stone has defects that cannot be modified, the stone material should be corrected, adjusted or reselected at any time. After the main peak and main secondary peaks have been marked, use the same method to mark the remaining peak stones; when marking, think carefully and do not be careless.

Sawing: after the sawing lines have been drawn, sawing can be carried out. First, after sawing is completed, the height of the peak stone is determined and unchangeable. Second, saw the bottom of the stone material flat, so that it can stand steadily in the pot and be easily glued. Third, remove the worthless and keep the essential, because most stone materials cannot be perfect; when sawing, all parts with poor grain or poor form can be removed. Fourth, for stone types with a slender form, both ends may have mountain peaks; if cut in the middle, it can be divided into two mountain peaks, the taller one serving as the main peak and the shorter one as a secondary peak or slope foot. Fifth, if the stone material is too long, according to the composition, the excess part can be sawed off. Sixth, for stone material that is thin in the middle and large at both ends, if sawed at the thin middle part, the stone material is divided into two, and each peak stone can have a cave.

Carving: after the stone material has been sawed, carving can be carried out. The purpose of carving is to carve on the surface of the stone material, to adjust, modify or work out new grain. Hard stones are usually not suitable for carving, because the stone is relatively hard and the carved grain is not easily natural; porous stone can be carved into various forms and grains. When carving, first use the flat end of the hammer to chisel out the large outline on the surface of the stone material, then chisel out the coarse grain, and then use the knife to carve fine lines, so that from a distance it has mountain form and mountain situation, and up close the grain is fine. Sandstone has an uneven texture, so when carving, use light force and do not use too much force; if the force is too great, in places with a high content of mud and sand it easily peels off. When carving, be careful to prevent the artificial traces from being too heavy and losing naturalness. The wrinkles of the peaks and stones in the same bonsai should be basically consistent. The grain of the near scenery arranged in the picture should be clear and fine, while the grain of the far scenery should be somewhat blurred. Another purpose of carving is to cut caves and gullies on the surface of the stone material according to the composition requirements. Use the pointed end of the hammer to cut caves or gullies; the action must be very careful, not too heavy or too hurried, to avoid shattering.

Striking: some stone types can, through striking, change large material into small material, and can also remove parts of the stone material with poor grain or form. When large axe-cut stone material is changed into small material, after striking it becomes several pieces; usually each new cross-section still has relatively good grain, and each can become a relatively good peak stone. If a certain place on the outer outline of an axe-cut stone has a defect, it can also be removed by striking with a hammer.

After hard stones are struck, they mostly have sharp edges and corners, which reveal artificial traces, so they need to be polished with a grinding wheel; sometimes for the sake of the outer outline, hard stones can also be appropriately carved.

Joining stones: when selecting materials, sometimes the selected main peak is quite ideal in form and grain, but its height is insufficient, so a stone is joined below it, and the joint is covered with a secondary peak, which can likewise achieve a relatively good artistic effect. Sometimes the selected main peak is slender, and a suitable stone can be attached to its upper middle part, making the peak stone protrude and form a cliff shape, with the joint still covered by other peak stones. In this way a cliff-style main peak is formed.

Raising: refers to when the selected main peak or secondary peak is slightly too short in height, usually by about 1-2 cm; a stone is placed under the lower part of the main peak to raise it.

Gluing: after the stone material has been sawed, carved, struck and otherwise treated, it can be arranged in the pot; at this time the main peak, the various secondary peaks and the slope feet are to be glued together in groups, forming one group. One group in one pot is the solitary-peak style; two groups in one pot is the weighted-side style, etc. Each group of stones must have a certain number, and it must be ensured that the peak body can stand in the pot without easily tipping over; the distribution of peak stones in the pot should not be too scattered, as too scattered also does not conform to the principles of composition and at the same time easily tips over.

If it is porous stone (water-absorbing stone), when using the stone-joining technique, the resin glue and cement at the joint may block water from permeating upward, thereby affecting the upward water absorption of the peak stone and causing the upper and lower tones of the joined peak stone to be inconsistent. Therefore, another stone should be attached beside the joined stone, forming a channel for water to permeate upward. If a stone cannot be attached, then the method of joining or raising porous stone vertically should be avoided.

When gluing, the technique of exposure and concealment can also be used to cover the defective parts of the peak stone, while at the same time achieving the effect of exposure and concealment, making the pictorial conception profound. The gluing process is as follows:

First, cleaning: before gluing, first clean off impurities, dust and other matter on the peak stone; after washing, let it dry.

Second, gluing: there are two gluing methods. One is to smear the bottom of the peak stone with cement slurry made from 107 glue and cement, and bond it directly onto the pot surface, so that stone and pot are bonded into one whole. This method is suitable for gluing small bonsai. Large peak stones are too heavy to be convenient for transport and daily cleaning and maintenance, so this method is mostly not adopted. The other is to lay a sheet of paper (newspaper) equal in size to the pot surface on the pot surface. Then smear the bottom of each peak stone with cement slurry made from 107 glue and cement (paste-like), also smear a little cement slurry at the places where two stones meet, and grind them up and down a little to make the contact tighter; according to the composition, bond each group of peak stones onto the pot surface covered with newspaper, then use a scraper to scrape away the cement overflowing outside the stone crevices. To make the color of the cement slurry at the seams consistent with the stone type, a layer can be brushed on the outer layer at the seams of cement slurry mixed with stone powder ground from that stone type or pigment of the same color as that stone type, making the mountain body have a greater sense of unity. When the stone body is polluted by cement slurry, it must be cleaned up promptly before the cement slurry dries; after the cement dries, turn the mountain body over, check the bottom, and if there are uneven places, fill them with cement. Then set it upright, stand at a distance, and observe whether the mountain body leans; if the mountain body is found to lean to one side, pad cement stone pieces or the like under the bottom of the mountain body to correct it. This is also the final hurdle; the mountain body must not be left crooked. At this point the gluing of the mountain body is completed. When gluing, it is sometimes found that a certain selected peak stone still has some defects and must be worked again or adjusted. Therefore layout and working sometimes proceed alternately and cannot be separated.

5. Arranging Plants

After the peak stones have been glued, begin planting trees, planting flowers and grasses, and laying moss on the mountain body. The ancients said: "Stone is inherently dull, but when trees live it becomes spiritual"; "The mountain borrows trees as its clothing, and trees borrow the mountain as their bones"; "As for the body of a mountain, stone is the bone, trees are the clothing, grass is the hair, and water is the blood vessels." Natural landscape cannot be separated from plants, and landscape bonsai is likewise; planting trees and the like on the mountain body gives it the vitality of life and makes it appear even more full of vigor.

The plants planted in landscape bonsai may be herbaceous or woody, and those with fine leaves and short stature are preferable. For herbaceous plants, Hong Kong (Guangdong) purslane is good; it has strong sprouting ability, small plants and fine leaves, and has the feel of a natural large tree. Pennywort is also very good; its leaves are round, and its stems trail like vines, hanging down among the mountains, quite elegant and interesting. Oxalis and Acorus gramineus are also acceptable. For woody plants, five-needle pine, small-leaf podocarpus, golden larch, true cypress, rice cypress, boxwood, serissa, small-leaf privet, rhododendron, tiger thorn, plum yew, holly, pomegranate, broom, Fujian tea, etc. are preferable. Woody plants are mostly planted on larger landscape bonsai.

When arranging plants in a landscape bonsai, comprehensive consideration must be given according to the theme, artistic conception and mountain form, and reference must also be made to the principles of perspective and the natural growth and development laws of plants. For example, to express the content of Huangshan, it is suitable to plant pines; to express the landscape scenery of Jiangnan, it is suitable to densely cover with moss and small plants; for towering peaks, cliff-style trees should be planted at the mountainside, to show the towering steepness of the mountain; for gentle slopes, short forest-style trees should be planted, to express elegance and quietness; the trees of solitary-peak-style mountain bonsai should be old and sturdy, while for multi-peak-style landscape bonsai the trees should preferably be small and fine; on hard stone, drought-tolerant plants such as pines should be planted; on mountain bodies with good water absorption, moss should be cultivated, and moisture-loving plants such as Acorus gramineus can also be planted. When arranging plants, pay attention to the perspective relationship, achieving near large and far small, low large and high small, and the size proportions of plants must be coordinated; generally it is preferable to be small rather than large, otherwise it will affect the momentum of the mountain. The layout of plants must coordinate with the layout of mountain stones; the mountain must not be chaotic and the trees must not be numerous; the whole must be considered, paying attention to the pictorial effect. When planting herbaceous plants, wrap the roots well with mud, insert them into stone crevices, and spray water frequently, and they will grow well. When planting woody plants, holes can be cut and pockets enclosed on the back of the peak stones, filled with soil, and the trees planted and their forms adjusted. For planting moss, one way is to take it from outdoors and attach it to the stones; this method is mostly used for inlaying moss at the mountain foothills and slope feet. There is also the method of adding water and pounding the moss into juice, brushing it on the peak stones with a writing brush, and maintaining a certain humidity, and in a few days green moss will grow. Bonsai made from water-absorbing stone mostly use this method.

6. Accent Placement

After the arrangement of plants is finished, begin accent placement. Chinese landscape painting often depicts some houses, boats and bridges, figures and birds and the like as accessories, dotted among the mountains and dense forests, increasing the interest of the picture; this method is called accent placement. Landscape bonsai is also like this; although the accessories are small, their role is great, often making the meaning of the picture more profound. But the accessories are not the more the better, nor the more varied the better, and even less may they be placed randomly; they must be decided according to comprehensive factors such as the theme and artistic conception. Attention is paid to relationships of primary and secondary, echo, density, exposure and concealment, movement and stillness, and attention is paid to perspective relationships.

Generally, for pictures with famous mountains and great rivers as the subject matter, classical pavilions, terraces, towers, chambers, stone arch bridges, pagodas and so on are suitable. For expressing wild mountains and pastoral scenery, accessories such as thatched huts, thatched pavilions, plank bridges, reading aloud, flute playing, chess playing, herding, and fishing are suitable. From the perspective of the principles of composition, pagodas should be placed on secondary peaks with a round and mellow mountain situation; pavilions and chambers should preferably be placed at the mountainside or on the platform on one side of the mountain foothill at the water's edge; where the water surface is broad, pair with a boat; in windy weather the sail should be raised, and in windless weather the sail should be lowered; where the water surface is narrow and the current is swift, expressing a small mountain stream in Jiangnan, bamboo rafts and the like should preferably be placed. Accessories must not be isolated and helpless; scenery and accessories must set off each other in order to fully express the theme.

Accent placement must also pay attention to proportions and sizes; the proportions of peak stones, trees, houses, boats, bridges and figures must be reasonable, and attention must also be paid to the perspective relationship of near and far, large and small. For example, in an opening-and-closing-style landscape bonsai, the distant mountains should not be clear; they should preferably be low and blurred, and no accessories should be placed on them. If a pavilion or pagoda is placed on a distant mountain, and the accessory is clearly visible, then the distant scenery is brought near and the distant mountain becomes a near mountain; this destroys the original composition. Thus it can be seen that accessories should only be placed in the near scenery. When arranging buildings such as pavilions and terraces, they can be half or partly concealed, so that they cannot be taken in at a glance, and the scenery becomes deeper.

There are also those who use modern technologies such as sound, light and electronics to install light sources, mist, waterfalls and other scenery in landscape bonsai, to increase the degree of realism of the landscape. As long as it is handled properly, it is still acceptable.

7. Management of Landscape Bonsai

Management work must also be carried out during the display or exhibition period of landscape bonsai. Landscape bonsai with plants planted must also, like tree bonsai, be managed in terms of water, fertilizer and soil. The usual management points are as follows.

① Spraying and Watering

There are usually three purposes for spraying and watering: first, to wash off dust or other dirt falling on the surface of the peak body; second, to provide the water necessary for the plants' survival (growth and development); third, to store a shallow layer of water in the pot, indicating a watery environment. Because landscape bonsai uses very little soil, it dries easily; if watering is slightly neglected, the plants will wither and die, but it also must not be too wet, otherwise the plants are also easily damaged by waterlogging and die.

② Fertilizing

During the growing season, apply some compound fertilizer or urea to the plants once or twice a month. Change the soil regularly and remove weeds promptly, only then can "luxuriant" growth be ensured.

③ Shading and Cold Protection

Usually the plants planted in landscape bonsai use very little soil, and in the hot summer they easily suffer drought damage. So they should not be exposed to direct sunlight for long and need appropriate shading. Also, because the root systems are relatively shallow, they are susceptible to frost damage, so cold protection must be carried out in winter; they can also be placed indoors, but preferably in a place with sufficient light.

④ Replacement

The plants used in water-basin-style landscape bonsai should generally not be too expensive. Because they need to be replaced frequently, to keep the green mountains ever present. Even if the plants used have already died, since they are ordinary plant materials, they are easy to obtain and do not cost much; to save money, moss plants can be used more.