What are the characteristics of Wenzhou bonsai? A detailed explanation of styling styles and production techniques
1. The tall-trunk combined planting style is the main form of Wenzhou five-needle pine bonsai
The tall-trunk combined planting style of five-needle pine bonsai is a development of the traditional Zhejiang bonsai form. The tall trunk also embodies the style and spirit of the pine tree, and it runs counter to the regular-style bonsai's pursuit of the soft beauty of curves.
In selecting the styling style, the specific conditions of the material play an important role. After grafting and cultivation, Wenzhou five-needle pine bonsai material is field-grown according to the requirements for regular-style ordinary landscaping seedlings; it was not cultivated from a young age according to the requirements of regular-style bonsai, so generally speaking the trunk lines are basically straight. The result of styling according to the principle of working with the material's characteristics can only be mostly straight-trunk style. This straight-trunk, tall-trunk type of five-needle pine is more suitable for planting two or three together to express the collective beauty of the trees.
2. Tree bonsai all emphasize the complete coordination of roots, trunk and branches, with harmonious cooperation, attention to the beauty of lines, and the pursuit of an overall artistic effect
Wenzhou tree bonsai's principle for handling the beauty of branch and trunk lines is: to enable hard lines and soft lines, long lines and short lines, thick lines and thin lines, and various different line segments as well as hard angles and soft angles to be organically organized within a single line under the premise of natural extension and moderate coordination, showing a slightly irregular variation and development, achieving the optimal posture of line styling that is "combining hardness and softness, with hardness as the dominant factor." For combined planting works, great attention is paid to the selection of materials and to handling the contradictory relationships of unity through change such as primary and secondary, sparse and dense, gathering and scattering, earlier and later, hidden and exposed, and competing and yielding.
For tree bonsai appreciated individually, when styling, strive for the tree's own completeness and balance without adding other materials.
3. Emphasizing rhythm and cadence, stressing dynamic momentum and force, and paying attention to the beauty of intervals
In the arrangement of branches in tree bonsai, the principle is dense at the top and sparse at the bottom; in terms of branch length, short at the top and long at the bottom; in terms of branch thickness, thin at the top and thick at the bottom. The outer contour line of the crown, expressed by all the branches front and back, left and right as a whole, is based on a scalene triangle and forms a curve with rises and falls, rhythm and cadence. Paying attention to the beauty of space means that when handling the relationships between branches and between branches and trunk, care is taken to leave a certain volume of space, so that the work is not overly congested and the rhythm of the crown curve is richer in variation. The dynamic momentum and force of Wenzhou bonsai are mainly manifested in the handling of the relationship between the trunk and branches or among the branches. That is, the issue of coordinating the two waist lines of the scalene triangle with the trunk. For example, in the shaping of five-needle pine, the angle formed by the extension of the branches and the trunk is generally about 45º. The first lower branch has a relatively large drooping angle, while the upper branches may droop slightly less. The structure of the whole tree is rigorous, striving for a majestic and upright momentum in the work. Its branches and leaves are trimmed relatively clean and elegant, and while it looks good from a distance it also withstands close viewing, without losing its unrestrained and refined elegance.
4. The development of Wenzhou miscellaneous-wood type bonsai
This is only a matter of the past seven or eight years, and the material sources are all native tree species of the region. The small-leaved banyan is the city tree of Wenzhou, and ancient large trees can be seen everywhere. In recent years, the banyan and Fukien tea introduced from Fujian have also been widely welcomed.
In Wenzhou's selection of miscellaneous-wood materials, traditional requirements and aesthetic standards are still retained for the trunk. For the handling of branches, it runs counter to the traditional hanging and binding method and mostly absorbs the Lingnan pruning method, forming another unique style of Wenzhou bonsai.
Most miscellaneous-wood tree species have the characteristics of tolerating pruning and sprouting easily. Because Wenzhou's climatic conditions are closer to those of Lingnan, comparatively speaking it is more advantageous to choose the pruning method, and this has enriched the content of Wenzhou bonsai in terms of style.
5. Production techniques
The styling of pine-type bonsai is mainly based on hanging and binding, combined with pruning. Because the sprouting and growth of pine plants have extremely obvious seasonality and stages, and they do not have the characteristics of tolerating pruning and sprouting easily like miscellaneous woods, when styling, in addition to removing or shortening those excess branches and trunks, most other useful branches and trunks are shaped by hanging and binding. Hanging means pulling and suspending; binding means wrapping and tying. When wrapping and tying are ineffective, the method of pulling and suspending is used instead to fix them.
For the trunk styling of pine material, generally only the shortening method is used, cutting short the upper part of the trunk that lacks variation and is not strongly expressive. If the trunk height is found to be sufficient, the uppermost branch of the trunk can be used to replace the trunk's top tip. If the trunk or a thick branch needs to have its direction of extension changed during styling, only protective materials such as hemp bark or thick metal wire can be used for protection, and then external force can be used to forcibly pull, suspend and fix it; it is not advisable to use strong twisting and hanging and binding.
The trunk or branch grows in a straight line when there is no external resistance. Therefore, when shaping, if a branch or trunk section needs to change from straight to curved, generally a section of branch or trunk is left, and then made into a deadwood branch.
Buds are the future branches and leaves. When styling, overly long buds should be cut short in time. In the maintenance and management of each year from April to May, bud control should be carried out, and only 3 to 5 clusters of leaves need to be kept per bud. Because buds are divided into primary and secondary ones, bud control for their growth must also be carried out more than 2 times. This is an important task that cannot be neglected in the shaping and maintenance process of five-needle pine bonsai.
Twisted sinew and turned bone is a natural phenomenon of cypress-type trees after they reach a certain age. Only material taken from mountains and fields has the phenomenon of twisted sinew and turned bone. If the material is taken from a nursery, the material must be cultivated from a young age for twisted sinew and turned bone, and then field-grown into usable material before it has an effect.
The branch handling of cypress-type bonsai is basically similar to that of five-needle pine. But because cypress-type trees like fertilizer and water and grow continuously during suitable temperature periods, in the maintenance process after shaping, first, the young leaves emerging beyond the branch pads must be removed frequently and promptly to promote luxuriant branches and leaves; second, because the speed of luxuriant branch and leaf growth is fast, a branch quickly becomes a clump, so depending on the specific situation, reshaping must be carried out again at intervals (two or three years). In view of this, the styling techniques for cypress-type bonsai are likewise mainly based on hanging and binding, with pruning and pinching as supplementary.
Landscape bonsai in the Wenzhou area is currently still at an initial stage, and its development seems to still await the right opportunity.
Wenzhou bonsai styling styles and production techniques
Flower and Bonsai Network introduction: Today the editor of Flower and Bonsai Network will share with you an article on Wenzhou bonsai styling styles and production techniques. Let's take a look together!
1. The tall-trunk combined planting style is the main form of Wenzhou five-needle pine bonsai
The tall-trunk combined planting style of five-needle pine bonsai is a development of the traditional Zhejiang bonsai form. The tall trunk also embodies the style and spirit of the pine tree, and it runs counter to the regular-style bonsai's pursuit of the soft beauty of curves.
In selecting the styling style, the specific conditions of the material play an important role. After grafting and cultivation, Wenzhou five-needle pine bonsai material is field-grown according to the requirements for regular-style ordinary landscaping seedlings; it was not cultivated from a young age according to the requirements of regular-style bonsai, so generally speaking the trunk lines are basically straight. The result of styling according to the principle of working with the material's characteristics can only be mostly straight-trunk style. This straight-trunk, tall-trunk type of five-needle pine is more suitable for planting two or three together to express the collective beauty of the trees.
2. Tree bonsai all emphasize the complete coordination of roots, trunk and branches, with harmonious cooperation, attention to the beauty of lines, and the pursuit of an overall artistic effect
Wenzhou tree bonsai's principle for handling the beauty of branch and trunk lines is: to enable hard lines and soft lines, long lines and short lines, thick lines and thin lines, and various different line segments as well as hard angles and soft angles to be organically organized within a single line under the premise of natural extension and moderate coordination, showing a slightly irregular variation and development, achieving the optimal posture of line styling that is "combining hardness and softness, with hardness as the dominant factor." For combined planting works, great attention is paid to the selection of materials and to handling the contradictory relationships of unity through change such as primary and secondary, sparse and dense, gathering and scattering, earlier and later, hidden and exposed, and competing and yielding.
For tree bonsai appreciated individually, when styling, strive for the tree's own completeness and balance without adding other materials.
3. Emphasizing rhythm and cadence, stressing dynamic momentum and force, and paying attention to the beauty of intervals
In the arrangement of branches in tree bonsai, the principle is dense at the top and sparse at the bottom; in terms of branch length, short at the top and long at the bottom; in terms of branch thickness, thin at the top and thick at the bottom. The outer contour line of the crown, expressed by all the branches front and back, left and right as a whole, is based on a scalene triangle and forms a curve with rises and falls, rhythm and cadence. Paying attention to the beauty of space means that when handling the relationships between branches and between branches and trunk, care is taken to leave a certain volume of space, so that the work is not overly congested and the rhythm of the crown curve is richer in variation.
The dynamic momentum and force of Wenzhou bonsai are mainly manifested in the handling of the relationship between the trunk and branches or among the branches. That is, the issue of coordinating the two waist lines of the scalene triangle with the trunk. For example, in the shaping of five-needle pine, the angle formed by the extension of the branches and the trunk is generally about 45º. The first lower branch has a relatively large drooping angle, while the upper branches may droop slightly less. The structure of the whole tree is rigorous, striving for a majestic and upright momentum in the work. Its branches and leaves are trimmed relatively clean and elegant, and while it looks good from a distance it also withstands close viewing, without losing its unrestrained and refined elegance.
4. The development of Wenzhou miscellaneous-wood type bonsai
This is only a matter of the past seven or eight years, and the material sources are all native tree species of the region. The small-leaved banyan is the city tree of Wenzhou, and ancient large trees can be seen everywhere. In recent years, the banyan and Fukien tea introduced from Fujian have also been widely welcomed.
In Wenzhou's selection of miscellaneous-wood materials, traditional requirements and aesthetic standards are still retained for the trunk. For the handling of branches, it runs counter to the traditional hanging and binding method and mostly absorbs the Lingnan pruning method, forming another unique style of Wenzhou bonsai.
Most miscellaneous-wood tree species have the characteristics of tolerating pruning and sprouting easily. Because Wenzhou's climatic conditions are closer to those of Lingnan, comparatively speaking it is more advantageous to choose the pruning method, and this has enriched the content of Wenzhou bonsai in terms of style.
5. Production techniques
The styling of pine-type bonsai is mainly based on hanging and binding, combined with pruning. Because the sprouting and growth of pine plants have extremely obvious seasonality and stages, and they do not have the characteristics of tolerating pruning and sprouting easily like miscellaneous woods, when styling, in addition to removing or shortening those excess branches and trunks, most other useful branches and trunks are shaped by hanging and binding. Hanging means pulling and suspending; binding means wrapping and tying. When wrapping and tying are ineffective, the method of pulling and suspending is used instead to fix them.
For the trunk styling of pine material, generally only the shortening method is used, cutting short the upper part of the trunk that lacks variation and is not strongly expressive. If the trunk height is found to be sufficient, the uppermost branch of the trunk can be used to replace the trunk's top tip. If the trunk or a thick branch needs to have its direction of extension changed during styling, only protective materials such as hemp bark or thick metal wire can be used for protection, and then external force can be used to forcibly pull, suspend and fix it; it is not advisable to use strong twisting and hanging and binding.
The trunk or branch grows in a straight line when there is no external resistance. Therefore, when shaping, if a branch or trunk section needs to change from straight to curved, generally a section of branch or trunk is left, and then made into a deadwood branch.
Buds are the future branches and leaves. When styling, overly long buds should be cut short in time. In the maintenance and management of each year from April to May, bud control should be carried out, and only 3 to 5 clusters of leaves need to be kept per bud. Because buds are divided into primary and secondary ones, bud control for their growth must also be carried out more than 2 times. This is an important task that cannot be neglected in the shaping and maintenance process of five-needle pine bonsai.
Twisted sinew and turned bone is a natural phenomenon of cypress-type trees after they reach a certain age. Only material taken from mountains and fields has the phenomenon of twisted sinew and turned bone. If the material is taken from a nursery, the material must be cultivated from a young age for twisted sinew and turned bone, and then field-grown into usable material before it has an effect.
The branch handling of cypress-type bonsai is basically similar to that of five-needle pine. But because cypress-type trees like fertilizer and water and grow continuously during suitable temperature periods, in the maintenance process after shaping, first, the young leaves emerging beyond the branch pads must be removed frequently and promptly to promote luxuriant branches and leaves; second, because the speed of luxuriant branch and leaf growth is fast, a branch quickly becomes a clump, so depending on the specific situation, reshaping must be carried out again at intervals (two or three years). In view of this, the styling techniques for cypress-type bonsai are likewise mainly based on hanging and binding, with pruning and pinching as supplementary.
Landscape bonsai in the Wenzhou area is currently still at an initial stage, and its development seems to still await the right opportunity.
A brief history of Wenzhou bonsai
Wenzhou is located in the southeastern corner of Zhejiang Province, surrounded by mountains on three sides, facing the East China Sea to the east, with the Ou River running through its entire territory. It is located at longitude 120o31′ east and latitude 28o01′ north, belongs to a subtropical monsoon climate, with an average annual temperature of 17°C, annual precipitation of 1966 mm, and a frost-free period of 275 days. The climate is mild throughout the year with abundant rainfall, hence the name "Wenzhou."
Wenzhou is the political, economic and cultural center of southern Zhejiang. According to a large amount of cultural relic data excavated in recent years at the Shanxi Reservoir construction site, Wenzhou began to develop as early as the Shang Dynasty. Therefore, historically Wenzhou culture is called "Ouyue culture," and Wenzhou also enjoys the reputation of "the famous town of Dong'ou." Because of Wenzhou's superior geography and climate, developed economy and culture, and abundant bonsai plant resources, it has been endowed with very favorable conditions for the development of Wenzhou bonsai art.
Wenzhou bonsai is part of Zhejiang bonsai. The spiritual connotation and artistic forms embodied by Zhejiang bonsai can likewise be expressed in Wenzhou bonsai, but it inevitably also has some individual characteristics of Wenzhou bonsai itself.
Wenzhou bonsai has a long history. According to historical research, as early as the Southern Song Dynasty Wenzhou bonsai was already very developed and popular among the people, and in terms of form and content it was already very complete. Wang Shipeng, the top scholar of the dynasty, was a famous statesman and writer, and also an enthusiast of bonsai art. In his work "Record of the Rock Pine," he gives the following true, specific and vivid description of bonsai that was at the time given as gifts among the people. "A rustic had a rock pine brought to Meixi, of a different nature growing in clusters, rooted in a fist-sized stone, lush yet not solitary, dense yet not tall, with cypress leaves and juniper body but pine bearing, hiding the air of towering to the sky and covering the earth within a handful..." This text reflects that Wenzhou bonsai at that time had not only already reached the required standards in styling, with a realm of poetic and pictorial charm, but also reflected a relatively high technical level in cultivation and maintenance.
"Record of the Rock Pine" is the earliest document in China's bonsai history describing rock-attached bonsai, and it has important academic research value. Moreover, the rock-attached bonsai it describes is largely the same as modern rock-attached styling. From this it can be inferred that the history of Wenzhou bonsai should go back far before the Southern Song Dynasty.
In one of his poems, Wang Shipeng has the line "Sea stones are truly suitable for planting sea pines." By the Ming Dynasty, the Zhejiang native Tu Long, in his book "Kao Fan Yu Shi," when discussing bonsai, more clearly mentioned that "since ancient times, among bonsai, the heavenly-wood pine is the most ancient and elegant"; regarding the styling of pine trees, he advocated taking the methods of famous Song and Yuan Dynasty pine painters as the model for pine bonsai styling. In the book he further discussed that the planting and arrangement of pine trees mostly included combined planting forms such as "two specimens paired together" and "or planting three or five." This shows that pine is a traditional tree species of Wenzhou bonsai, and it further shows that the styling style of modern Wenzhou pine bonsai is based on historical tradition.
In the suburbs of Wenzhou there is a flower village that has grown flowers and bonsai for generations - Chashan. It was once praised as one of the four great flower townships of Zhejiang, and it accumulated rich experience for Wenzhou's urban greening and bonsai maintenance, while also cultivating a group of technical personnel.
In the article "The Evolution of Flower Gardening in Wenzhou City" written by Mr. Wang Yiping, it is recorded that from the period of the Republic of China to the early years of the founding of the People's Republic, there were successively 15 private gardens in Wenzhou City engaged in flowers and bonsai. The garden owners took making a living as their purpose and also operated many flower-related items, among which bonsai was also a main content. At that time, most bonsai were of pictorial styles such as "six platforms, three supports and one top." Some famous gentry and industrial and commercial owners also placed many bonsai in their courtyards, but most were of natural style. The tree species were mainly pines and cypresses, with few miscellaneous woods and landscape stones.
In the Wenzhou of the past, on the second day of the fourth lunar month every year, there was a mass cultural activity called "Lan Jie Fu," one of whose main contents was placing various flowers, bonsai, goldfish... along the streets for citizens to view freely. Outstanding ones were given red flowers and hung with prize medals, and it was extraordinarily lively.
In 1958, the Wenzhou Municipal Gardening Office opened a bonsai garden at and around Miaoguo Temple in the west of the city. This was the birth of another bonsai garden in Zhejiang Province after the Hangzhou Flower Garden Bonsai Garden. Thereafter, due to the attention of the leaders of the Wenzhou Gardening Office, the bonsai garden developed considerably. During the "Cultural Revolution," bonsai art suffered a calamity for a time, but afterward the work of the bonsai garden was quickly restored. Since then, Wenzhou bonsai has actively participated in national, provincial and municipal exhibitions and academic activities, among which four events are worth recalling.
First: at the first national bonsai art exhibition held in Beijing in 1979 on the 30th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic, Wenzhou bonsai achieved success for the first time. In addition to the works being collected into picture albums and the documentary "Flower Shadows in the Pot," the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications issued a special set of stamps themed on bonsai for the exhibition. The set had six stamps, two of which featured Wenzhou bonsai: a Chinese cypress bonsai titled "Love in Life and Death," with a stamp face value of 60 fen, and a Chinese juniper bonsai titled "Weather-Beaten," with a stamp face value of 8 fen.
Second: in the early summer of 1981, Wenzhou bonsai participated in the first "Zhejiang Provincial Bonsai Art Exhibition" held in Hangzhou. As a result of the judging, Wenzhou bonsai won three first-prize works, namely the tree bonsai "Welcoming Guests" five-needle pine, the "Weather-Beaten" Chinese juniper, and the landscape bonsai "Morning Glow at Haidian" sea reef stone; it won six second-prize works and 4 third-prize works, with a total award rate of 23.75% of the province, ranking first. At the same time, the provincial gardening society held a bonsai art seminar, and the meeting summary proposed that "tree-stump bonsai should take the Wenzhou style as the foundation and absorb the strengths of other places, so as to form the style of Zhejiang bonsai."
Third: in the summer of 1986, Wenzhou bonsai joined a delegation organized by the China Flower Association and went to Italy to participate in the Fifth World Flower Expo. As a result of the judging, our country won a total of 3 gold awards, 3 silver awards and one arrangement award, among which Wenzhou bonsai won 1 gold award and 2 silver awards, bringing honor to the country.
Fourth: in 1988, the large picture album "Chinese Bonsai - Appreciation of Excellent Works" and the textbook "Bonsai Studies" used by national higher forestry institutions both explicitly confirmed that the geographical position of "Zhejiang school bonsai" and "Zhejiang bonsai" centered on Hangzhou and Wenzhou is commonly recognized by the domestic bonsai circles.
To this day, at the most authoritative China Flower Expo and China Bonsai Evaluation Exhibitions in the country, apart from not participating in the second bonsai evaluation exhibition in the text, Wenzhou bonsai has actively participated in all the others and has won a total of 9 first prizes (gold awards).
In the 1980s, Wenzhou folk bonsai gradually began to develop again. In the mid-1980s, the former municipal gardening office took the lead in establishing the Wenzhou Flower and Bonsai Association to organize folk bonsai enthusiasts to create together, exhibit together, and jointly prosper Wenzhou bonsai. In the 1990s, Huatan Village in Dajing, Yueqing, took the lead in forming a relatively large-scale bonsai village in Wenzhou City.
In recent years, the municipal forestry bureau and the municipal flower association have also been very concerned with opening up the flower and bonsai industry. On both sides of National Highway 104 in Wenzhou, a flower and bonsai...
ten-li corridor has formed. As a result, the bonsai market has expanded, the trend of cultivating bonsai among urban and rural people has grown daily, and wealthy people collecting high-grade bonsai have also increased day by day.