Detailed Guide to Making and Techniques for Ruyi Flower Bonsai
1. Flower Pot
The best pot for Ruyi flower is a purple clay pot; a shallower plain-colored pot can be chosen, which better sets off the vigorous form and brilliant flower colors of the lantana. Pots with better breathability such as tile pots, ceramic pots or cement pots can also be used for cultivation.
2. Soil
Ruyi flower likes moisture, tolerates drought, and dislikes waterlogging. It grows better in loose, fertile sandy loam with good drainage. For the soil mix when potting, a growing medium of half leaf mold and half sand can be used, with a small amount of base fertilizer such as bone meal, cake residue or animal hoof and horn added.
3. Watering
Ruyi flower likes a moist environment. During the growing season, the watering principle is "do not water until dry, and water thoroughly when you do," with slightly moist conditions being preferable, but waterlogging must be strictly avoided.
4. Pruning
Ruyi flower has strong sprouting ability and tolerates pruning. Use the method of trunk truncation and branch accumulation for shaping, and also pay attention to pruning and pinching. In spring, properly prune the sprouted branches to promote symmetrical, beautiful and naturally transitional branches; in summer, frequently pinch or short-prune, and after each flowering be sure to shorten the branches to encourage short, dense branches and a compact crown forming a rounded head shape; emphasis should be placed on handling large side branches, generally cutting one and keeping one, or keeping one long and one short, cutting off overly dense branches, weak branches and crossing branches to maintain a beautiful shape.
Making Lingzhi Bonsai
1. Material Selection Different types of pots should be chosen according to the species, color, form and size of the lingzhi. Generally, dark-colored ceramic pots are better. If it is red lingzhi or pine-fir lingzhi, brown or purple pots are ideal, which can make the tones harmonious and give an antique, elegant feel. If it is black purple lingzhi or black lingzhi, white porcelain pots should be used, using strong contrast to highlight the features of the lingzhi's form. Pots with the same or similar color as the lingzhi should not be used, to avoid a monotonous tone. Lingzhi material can be collected from the wild or cultivated artificially. During artificial cultivation, by manually controlling temperature, light and air, lingzhi material with diverse and varied forms can be cultivated. For example, under high temperature or oxygen-deficient conditions, lingzhi with slender stipes or coral-like branched forms can be cultivated. When light is reduced, the caps become deformed.2. Making the Bonsai ① Fill in with quartz sand grains or other sand grains so that the lingzhi appears to grow among sand and stones, but be careful that the sand grains do not rise above the pot surface. ⑨ Weave fine iron wire into a net and place it in the pot, insert the lingzhi stipe into an appropriate mesh hole, then fill with gravel. ② Use latex, glass glue, etc. to bond and fix the lingzhi and other accessories in appropriate positions. ④ Use gypsum to fix the lingzhi and accessories in the pot. Besides sand grains, the pot can also be lined with sun-dried moss, fruticose lichen, Selaginella and other plants that do not easily break down, making the bonsai appear natural. There is another type of lingzhi with a very short or no stipe, having a large cap
making bonsai more convenient; during making, simply flatten the base of the lingzhi and bond it into the pot. Because these lingzhi have large and relatively flat cap surfaces, poems and prose or paintings of landscapes and figures can be written on them, and various patterns can also be carved. When placed in the pot, they can be inlaid singly or in several pieces, or overlapped together. Their surfaces can be coated with transparent lacquer, allowing long-term preservation and appreciation.
3. Naming the Bonsai Giving a finished bonsai an appropriate and profoundly meaningful name is one of the artistic techniques in making bonsai. A good name can play the role of "adding the finishing touch"; otherwise, it gives a feeling of "gilding the lily." Naming can be based on a predetermined theme, or determined according to the form of the materials used. If it is a single lingzhi, growing robustly and shaped like a ruyi, it can be named "Auspicious Ruyi"; if it is a bonsai of two complete lingzhi joined together, it can be named "Reflecting Each Other Heart to Heart" or "Forever United Heart to Heart"...
4. Preservation of Lingzhi Bonsai ① Pay attention to moisture-proofing and insect-proofing. The finished lingzhi bonsai should be stored in a dry, ventilated place to prevent moisture return and mildew; place an appropriate amount of insecticide such as camphor balls in the pot to prevent insect damage. If insects are found, fumigation, freezing or drying treatment should be carried out, and it can also be exposed to sunlight. If the lingzhi is damaged or has insect holes, seal them with paraffin or adhesive tape to prevent pests from invading and reproducing. Lingzhi mycelium is most prone to maggots or insect eggs; alcohol can be injected or applied with alcohol cotton balls. But be careful not to spray alcohol on the surface of the lingzhi, otherwise it will damage the surface and cause loss of luster. ② Pay attention to lacquering and dust-proofing. Because lingzhi bonsai can be placed for a long time, the surface is easily contaminated with dirt and dust and loses luster. To prevent contamination and maintain brightness, clear lacquer can be brushed on the surface of the lingzhi body, which can prevent insects and moisture, maintain the original luster, and also avoid contamination (even if dust sticks, it can be wiped off immediately). But the lacquer should not be too thick, otherwise cracking will occur, affecting the appearance. To prevent dust and pests from invading, the bonsai can also be covered with a glass cover.
Design and Processing in Bonsai Making
After the material is determined, creation can begin. Before creating, one should calm the mind and soothe the spirit, cultivate passion, be calm and peaceful; only when filled with beautiful things can good works appear. In addition, regarding how to compose and arrange, what the theme is, the processing order, and how to arrange technical measures, one should have a general framework in mind as a reference for operation, and must never act blindly. Creation must first have a design, either on paper or in the mind, considering how to shape according to the characteristics of the stone material, that is, based on one's feelings in life practice, choosing the most moving and most beautiful form, giving it appropriate exaggeration, refinement and generalization, applying imagination to technique, cleverly arranging it into the picture, and using skills and techniques to perfect the author's conception.
Soft stone can easily be completed according to the creator's intention. The original state of the stone material can be outlined in line drawing, observing the drawn form, imagining changes in vertical, horizontal, curved and bent directions, and sketching them; an image deemed satisfactory can serve as a reference for making; ink lines can also be drawn on the stone material as marks during processing.
Hard stone changes endlessly and is also difficult to process, so it is hard to make a design drawing. A basic sketch can be made, then further improvements imagined, adapting to the stone according to the material conditions. The purpose of imagining is a perfect form; imagining is also called conception. Conception and making often proceed simultaneously, conceiving while creating while revising, gradually perfecting the conception and perfecting the creation.
Soft Stone Design
The design of a bonsai cannot be perfect and flawless. In the design, for defects in the form of the object, processing techniques are used to compensate, modify, add, bond or delete, using various technical means to perfect the form. The perfection of the composition requires repeated consideration of every detail, such as position, size, primary and secondary, density, lightness and heaviness, and layers, so that each has variation yet can be unified in the pot. The quality of the picture depends entirely on the mastery of conception and technique.
(1) Rough processing: If the stone material is too large, the method of splitting can be used for rough processing. Different stone types have different physical properties, so in order to obtain the desired parts and forms, reduce waste, and strive to obtain large and numerous aged-surface materials, different splitting methods should be used. For thick stone material with bedding structure, one can slowly split from the base (the less attractive end) at a thick, flat place along the parallel grain with a thin steel chisel; if the stone material is too wide, several thin steel chisels can be used to split longitudinally along the same grain.
If obvious grain parts are observed from the sawed cross-section, one can start from there to split more easily. Therefore, one should usually strengthen observation, experimentation, research and summary of mountain stone structure. The structure of haimu stone is radial-like, and it can be split diagonally from the middle along the grain; for axe-cut stone, stalagmite stone and others along sedimentary grain, use several thin chisels spaced at a certain distance, and split along the grain with even force; for ying stone and others, the sedimentary direction can be found from the sawed cross-section or grain structure, and split from there; mountain stone can also be cut around the perimeter and then split apart. In short, using the splitting method can obtain theme materials and surface materials, save labor and reduce trouble, but one must be bold and careful to reduce waste.
Diagram of Stone Splitting
(1) Narrowing a Wide Stone Longitudinally
(2) Narrowing a Wide Stone Laterally
(3) Thinning a Thick Stone
Some stone types are hard and brittle, with irregular fracture surfaces. Before splitting, one must carefully assess to minimize damage to the aged surface, and even more so must not act blindly and break large material into small pieces that cannot be used. If unsure, it is still better to think of sawing it open. It is impossible to directly use the splitting method to obtain standard dimensions; generally, when splitting, appropriately loosen the dimensions, leaving room for processing. The form produced by splitting may also be unexpected; the accidental cannot be taken as inevitable, and one must not rely on luck. Once ideal material is obtained, immediately make new considerations based on the new situation, redesign and rearrange.
(2) Sawing: Sawing is for completely and intactly obtaining the theme part of the selected material, and for standing stably in the pot according to design requirements, facilitating control during processing or allowing free and stable movement and adjustment during arrangement, achieving overall coordination. Another means of sawing can remove unnecessary parts, reduce difficulties in processing, and reduce operating intensity. It can also give failed works or damaged works a chance to come back to life by carefully considering and changing the angle for sawing, then appropriately modifying them. Especially for hard stone works, success or failure lies in one cut (saw), so before sawing one must repeatedly and carefully examine the stone material, then draw lines and saw. The front sawing line determines the height and the left-right posture angle; saw from there. The side extension line cooperates with the front sawing line; it is the reference line determining the front-back posture angle; refer to this line when sawing. Only after the two lines are drawn and verified without error can the saw be applied to split open; even when sawing, one must constantly check and correct to obtain the ideal effect.
Saw off unwanted parts, then process further, which can improve efficiency
Sawing a Mountain Cave
When sawing thin slices of small stones, such as distant mountains and sloping shoals, using a hand saw easily causes the mountain stone to heat, expand and crack. Besides adding water for cooling when sawing, also pay attention to keeping the saw frame steady and the rhythm slow. If using mechanical cutting, the slice cannot be too thick, the saw blade must be flat, and the feed must be steady and slow.
① Hard stone: For some stone materials, first give basic shape to both ends and then cut open, which can reduce waste, such as axe-cut stone and stalagmite stone; otherwise, after sawing open and then changing the shape, if one is not careful, too much will break off and fail to meet design requirements, and sometimes one can only change large pieces into small ones.
The layout and sawing of hard stone proceed simultaneously and in an intersecting manner: first establish the main peak, then match guest mountains, sawing while laying out while modifying and adjusting, so that height, front-back, size, thickness and width meet the needs of composition and scene arrangement (design requirements). When sawing is completed, the shaping and layout are also finished.
Sawing
(1) The side reference line determines the front-back posture angle
(2) The front sawing line determines the left-right angle of the theme
After shaping the mountain peak, draw lines and saw open
There is also the method of sawing a group of mountain stones according to the basic conception beforehand, drawing lines while considering the matching of height, size, thickness and width. One can refer to the ratio of 1:3:5... for cutting, that is, one main peak, three main matching peaks, five secondary matching peaks, seven tertiary matching peaks, and so on. Among these, the mountain stones of a certain number also each have variations. In particular, the left and right orientations of the mountain-foot shoals must each be complete, so that during arrangement, when the mountain-foot diagonal line needs to tilt left there is material to match, and when it needs to tilt right there is material to choose. In short, there should be more low ones than medium ones, and more medium ones than tall ones. In this way, when arranging, the matching materials can be freely selected as needed, which is conducive to giving full play to ideas, especially at key points where the needed stone material can be obtained just right, so that the picture will be lively and vivid. Otherwise, if one forces numbers together and strains connections, the work will lack charm and appeal. When sawing a group of mountain stones, besides ensuring each one's center of gravity and angle, also pay attention to the unity of grain. Large-volume stone material cannot be cut downward all at once; it can be rotated a certain angle and continue cutting along the original saw kerf, repeating this until it is sawed open.
If the sawed cross-section is found to be uneven, it can be gradually leveled by chiseling, grinding, shaving and other methods, making sure the bottom surface of the mountain stone fits the bottom of the pot. If the stone body is bulky and heavy, a flat plate can be placed over it for testing: the sunken parts will let light through, and the protruding parts will contact the plate surface and appear dark; these should be chiseled away. Repeat this correction so that the bright and dark points are even, then grind flat with a water grinding wheel to avoid scratching the bottom of the pot. During processing, pay attention to ensuring the posture angle and constantly correct it. If the stone is too hard to saw open by hand, add carborundum mixed with water into the saw kerf and it can be sawed through; even ceramics and the like can be split with carborundum. Carborundum can be recovered and reused.
Sawing a Group of Mountain Stones
(1) Left-facing mountain foot (2) Right-facing mountain foot
(3) Cut around a large stone once, then split it open
② Soft stone: Before sawing, first carefully cut away loose impurities and wash clean. Only after the true appearance of the material is revealed should one consider the front-side, top-bottom, height and other relationships and draw lines to split open, and understand the internal structure of the mountain stone from the sawed surface as a reference for creation and processing
Sawing Soft Stone
(1) The center of gravity tilts toward the side-front
(2) Soft stone is shaped after removing impurities
During sawing, to ensure the stone's posture and form, besides reasonable line drawing, appropriate sawing, and constant checking and correction, customarily the sawing angle for near scenes should tilt forward (toward the side-front), while distant mountains can be vertical (based on the mountain's center line or rear edge line).
③ Sawing the height of the main peak (ratio to the pot): mainly based on satisfactory visual estimation. For example, in making a small bonsai, hold the pot in one hand in front and the stone in the other hand behind, moving up and down; when the ratio is considered appropriate, draw a line and saw. If the stone is slightly larger, it can be placed face up on a table, and using a wooden ruler equal to the pot length, move it up and down, left and right; when an acceptable length is determined, mark it and then saw open. The height of the main peak in a near scene is generally set at two-thirds of the pot length, or about twice the pot width. It should not be too high; if too high, the stone base area will also be large. The height of the main peak in a distant scene cannot be less than five times the pot height; if lower than this ratio, the theme cannot stand out. Of course, the basic conditions of width and thickness cannot be disregarded.
Selection of Main Peak Height
(1) The height of the main peak in a near scene is about 2/3 of the pot length
(2) The main peak in a distant scene is not less than about 5 times the pot thickness
When cutting near-scene material, basically achieve a thickness-to-width ratio of 1:1.5, with a height of 2.5. Only such material will have appropriate room for processing and can be given play during making. But after processing and shaping, the main body of the base should not exceed two-thirds of the pot width, making sure there is a reasonable space in front of the pot.
For distant scenes (or horizontal lying forms of near scenes), when the width is insufficient, matching stones can be used to compensate, but they must not fail to hold down the picture. When cutting material, note that width is greater than height, and height is greater than thickness, and the thickness should not exceed two-thirds of the pot width. The width of the main scene stone should not be less than two-thirds of the pot length; otherwise, although left and right can be increased progressively, too much piecing together will dilute the theme (proper combination of hard stones can overcome this drawback).
Processing Soft Stone
(1) The mountain stone cross-section does not exceed 2/3 of the pot width
Leave room for maneuver in front of the pot
(2) Several pieces can be combined left and right (plane)
The so-called main body part should not exceed two-thirds of the pot width; in essence, it reminds the author to pay attention to the proportional relationship of the water surface in the three-dimensional space when considering composition. Generally, tall and large stone material also has a large bottom cross-section; this is a rule and a direct proportion, so one must pay attention when selecting material. For near scenes, stone and water are 1:1; near objects are close to the viewer, the scene is high and the distance is near, and the water surface is small; for distant mountains, stone and water are about 1:2; objects are far and appear shorter, and farther from the viewer, the water surface is open. Of course, factors such as the shape of the pot, the landscape shaping format and the author's technique are indispensable for flexible variation. If the above ratios are not followed, as long as handling is proper, a full stone will not feel crowded, and a broad water surface will not appear empty and loose; one can still win by surprise.
④ Determining the main peak form (height, width) of a giant bonsai: First reduce the actual pot dimensions proportionally and draw them on paper, then draw a sketch of the relationships of proportion, shape and position on it, and enlarge the drawn mountain stone according to the original proportion, thereby obtaining the desired actual sample. A measuring rod can also be erected in the pot, and when a suitable height (including width) is considered, mark it, measure the dimensions and saw.
Sometimes during construction the main peak or several matching peaks are not tall enough; objects can be placed underneath to support them to the design height, but no flaw may be revealed. Therefore, during construction one must not simply insist on the height of the peak, but also consider whether the matching peaks have the conditions.
In short, when sawing mountain stones, the spatial relationships should be compact, and a certain space should be opened up on the plane (the pot-surface waterscape), so that void and solid are well arranged (water is void, stone is solid). On the elevation, peaks and pot (including matching peaks) should coordinate and echo each other, with order in separation and combination. If the stone is thin and too lean, the result will be messy and lose spirit; conversely, if the stone is thick and bloated, the result will be crowded and monotonous. Therefore, when selecting material and sawing, one must always consider the overall situation and strictly control quality to produce satisfactory works.
If the main peak is not tall enough, the lower part can be raised and then covered, without revealing the flaw