Ten Subjective Mental Tendencies to Abandon in Penjing Creation

  In the process of penjing creation, since it is human subjective consciousness acting upon an objective entity, a series of ideological and mental activities inevitably run through it. Under the same conditions of region, economy and resources, there will be relatively large gaps between different creators in terms of quality level and speed of progress. Among the many factors, one important factor is that penjing creators themselves are influenced by values, methodology and psychological effects. There will exist improper tendencies of consciousness that lean now this way and now that, hindering penjing creation from developing in a deeper and more refined direction. These are mainly manifested in the following aspects:

  1. Valuing the large and slighting the small: emphasizing commercial value while neglecting artistic standards

  Although the penjing circles of our country have imposed certain restrictive regulations on the height of exhibited penjing and the height of pots: tree penjing exceeding 120 cm above the pot surface are not eligible for awards. Yet many penjing creators still take pride in being large and seek to win by size. Small penjing are often neglected. It is thought that they do not add grandeur to the scene, that their momentum is not strong, and that their commercial value is not high. The attitude of some judges at exhibitions and evaluation meetings who look down on small penjing, and their orientation of measuring artistic standards by market commodity value, have played a guiding role in the notion of valuing the large and slighting the small. As art workers, we should mainly evaluate works from the aspect of artistic standards. It is certainly gratifying for a penjing to be good and large, but small and refined should also be admired.

  2. Valuing green and slighting bone: favoring evergreen plants and disliking deciduous varieties

  Evergreen tree penjing can add greenery in the cold winter and are loved by ordinary citizens, which should not be criticized. But as penjing creators, we should not have such a preference. On the contrary, penjing works created with deciduous trees, as the seasons change, allow one to appreciate different scenery in all four seasons. This is what is commonly called being able to appreciate both the leaves and the bone. For example, maple penjing: in spring the tender buds are pointed, in summer the dense shade is like a canopy, in autumn the red leaves are like fire, and in winter the iron-like trunks and twisted branches stand out. Their forms and content are much richer than those of evergreen trees. Some penjing artists, for the sake of penjing creation, even strip the leaves from evergreen penjing for viewing, calling it "taking off clothes to change brocade," which follows the same principle.

  3. Valuing the external and slighting the internal: favoring rare varieties from other places and despising local "native products"

  "Things are precious for being rare." In the producing areas of Japanese bush cherry, some people consider it lowly. In the producing areas of Chinese fringetree, some people consider it lowly. This is the understanding of ordinary people. As penjing art workers, we cannot lightly regard a variety as lowly and discard it without use. What are called "lowly" are none other than having strong vitality and strong sprouting ability. This is precisely an excellent characteristic of penjing plants; otherwise penjing creation would be very difficult to carry out. We must absolutely not blindly pursue rare varieties while looking down on native varieties, turning treasure into waste, which is truly regrettable and lamentable.

  4. Valuing oneself and slighting others: cherishing one's own "precious darling" and looking down on others' successful works

  Due to psychological effects, some penjing creators often favor works they have nurtured with their own hard sweat. They see their own works as "a flower" and others' works as "tofu dregs." Some even "dislike the house and extend it to the crow." They bring personal grievances and resentments into penjing creation. From looking down on works to looking down on authors. They always think that they have long seniority and many awards, and at the mention of others, especially young creators, they turn up their noses. This is not conducive to learning from others' strengths to offset one's weaknesses. Enriching one's own treasury of knowledge. Admiring one's own fragrance in solitude, one falls back if one does not advance.

  5. Valuing the same and slighting the different: being accustomed to old routines and rejecting new methods

  In regions with a long history of penjing art development and relatively much cultural accumulation, the same artistic styles and technical characteristics will inevitably be formed. Traditional techniques are familiar and easy. They are easily applied repeatedly by people without weariness. It is very easy to make works lack new ideas. When new techniques and methods appear, at first they are not easily accepted and attract much criticism. To a large extent, this is caused by the "inertia" of traditional concepts. In fact, successful innovative works, after being tested by history, appear more vigorous and more vital.

  6. Valuing pruning and slighting wiring: favoring trunk chopping and branch growing while giving up wiring and binding for shaping

  In the Su, Wan and Zhe regions of our country, penjing techniques are especially strong in wiring, and many wiring and binding methods have been summarized. For modern people with a fast pace of life, many fellow enthusiasts dislike wiring and binding as very labor- and time-consuming, and one after another imitate Lingnan's method of only pruning and not wiring. Because climate conditions differ from place to place, they should be treated differently. In Lingnan the average temperature is high and plants grow fast, so trunk chopping and branch growing is a good method. From central to northern China, if there is only pruning and no wiring, the time for penjing to take shape is lengthened. Therefore in the Central Plains and in Hubei, the method of combining pruning and wiring has appeared. It can achieve twice the result with half the effort. Learning advanced techniques should also be adapted to local conditions, achieving a combination of pruning and wiring.

  7. Valuing pictures and slighting text: being satisfied with copying mechanically and unwilling to create with care

  Some penjing creators like to collect penjing pictures. Some even preserve pictures from magazines while tearing out and discarding the articles; some compare their own works with works published in newspapers and magazines, and whatever matches proves that their own work is a good work. Because magazines must consider encouraging new authors and promoting the development of less advanced regions, it is unavoidable that some not very mature works are published. If one only mechanically copies the styles in pictures and lacks original works with new ideas, then it is like copying paintings; no matter how many one copies, one cannot become a painter.

  8. Valuing form and slighting substance: being intoxicated with the expression of form while neglecting the pursuit of substance

  Beginners in penjing often become excessively intoxicated with whether the tree stump is withered and ancient, whether it has holes, and whether it resembles some kind of animal. They very easily neglect the essence of penjing art works in expressing social life content and the author's thoughts and feelings. They have not yet realized that lodging emotion in scenery and blending feeling with scene is the true penjing. A penjing resembling an animal is only one aspect of interesting potted plant shaping. Form must serve content and accord with the theme of the work. Form for form's sake is not necessarily good form; striving diligently toward depth of scene and emotion is the pursuit of a higher level.

  9. Valuing technique and slighting art: emphasizing the pursuit of technique while lacking artistic study

  In the process of penjing creation, technique serves art. The pursuit of technique is about common laws, while the pursuit of art is about individual characteristics. The two are in a causal relationship. Penjing creation cannot remain only on various fixed "styles," and cannot insist that every branch conform to norms and every pot have a provenance. It is also wrong to always think that combined penjing are merely makeshift and that tree-and-stone penjing have low technical content. Only by working hard on creating original artistic styles and working hard on expressing the artistic conception of penjing can we do this. Absorbing the nourishment of penjing artworks of different periods such as the "formal style," "natural large-tree form," and "wind-blown style." Achieve development in both technique and art. Open up and innovate, and keep advancing.

  10. Valuing practice and slighting theory: burying oneself in practical exploration while looking down on theoretical discussion

  Theory guides practice, and practice enriches theory. This is a truth everyone understands. Yet when it comes to actual situations, it is easy to bury oneself only in practice and look down on theory. Some people think that theoretical articles contain too many disputes, saying that "the public says the public is right, and the wife says the wife is right." The author has had the experience that when first reading theoretical articles one is somewhat unable to decide what is right, and only after reading carefully and reading several more times does one understand the reasoning in them. It is precisely the active discussion of the broad masses of penjing art workers that can make issues clearer the more they are debated and unify them onto correct theory. The older generations in our country's aesthetics circles and penjing circles have, on the basis of practice, summarized many theories of technique that link theory with practice and aesthetic theories, which can fully be applied to penjing theory.

  The above discussions are not evaluations of technique, and seem to have little relation to the material materials in penjing works such as trees, stones, pots, stands and racks. But it must be seen that human consciousness plays an active role and will inevitably influence the orientation of penjing art development. No matter how good the technical methods and penjing forms are, if we are unwilling to accept them, they will be shut out. As long as interested people believe that "good medicine tastes bitter, and honest advice grates on the ear," so as to avoid the suspicion of preaching, and everyone uses artistic dialectics to correctly grasp the relationship between light and heavy, with light and heavy in proper measure and just right, that is the purpose of this article presented to everyone.