Points to note when arranging scattered stones in the creation of landscape bonsai

  A bonsai is not a mass-produced product from a production line, but a work of art in a thousand different forms. Even if each bonsai follows the same layout format of opening and closing, the arrangement and posture of their host and guest rock forms differ to some degree. This requires us to exercise a certain flexibility whenever we use scattered stones to divide blank space or to "tie together momentum," yet they must still follow the direction in which the mountain forms across the whole composition develop and meet the need to handle the blank space of the water surface at the foot of the mountain, complementing the whole composition to bring out its best, that is to say, achieving "scattered in form yet not scattered in spirit."

  When using scattered stones, vary the large and small. Because scattered stones differ in size, the visual and psychological expansive force they produce differs as well. Large scattered stones have a greater visual tension and occupy space more effectively, while small scattered stones are the opposite. Therefore, placing large scattered stones reduces the "negative space" of the blank area, while placing small scattered stones leaves relatively more "negative space." Using the two together can create an organic combination of scattered stones and blank space, as the theory of painting says: "In counting the black, regard it as white; in counting the white, regard it as black." It also breaks the dullness and monotony of the blank space, creating a specific artistic effect.

  Because scattered stones occupy different spatial positions, they can also divide space unevenly. Within the same blank water surface at the foot of the mountain, placing scattered stones in different positions (even if they are identical in volume and equal in visual expansive force) can still divide the space unevenly, breaking the balance and monotony of the blank area. But note that if scattered stones of the same size are arranged evenly across the blank water surface at the foot of the mountain, this artistic effect will not be achieved, because this in fact becomes a geometric arrangement. At the same time, when scattered stones serve as a foil for the host and guest rock forms, they should be placed according to the face of the composition and varied appropriately, so that their proportions harmonise with the host and guest rock forms.

  For the planting arrangement on the scattered stones, moss and grass should predominate; for example, they can be adorned with Acorus calamus, Saxifraga stolonifera, and star grass, which also conforms to the expressive method of "sparse dots of grass and moss." At the same time, pavilions, terraces and other decorative elements can be placed on them to deepen the theme of the bonsai.