Su-style penjing art exhibition opens, Ji Peilong's works on display
On the morning of June 11, jointly hosted by the Changshu Municipal Culture, Radio, Television, Press and Publication Bureau and the Dongbang Town People's Government, and organized by the Changshu Library and the Ji Peilong Penjing Art Studio, “True Feelings Within the Scenery——Ji Peilong Su-style Penjing Art Exhibition” opened at the Changshu Library.
Changshu has a long history of flower and tree cultivation and penjing art. According to relevant materials, it began before the Tang Dynasty and flourished from the Ming Dynasty. Sun Yuanxiang, a literatus of Changshu in the Qing Dynasty, once wrote in a poem: “The seven streams flow fragrant through the city walls, half the mountain's flying green enters the city. With wine in abundance, the family brew is poured by the season; flowers are planted everywhere regardless of cost.” In the national penjing circles, when Su-style penjing is mentioned, people speak of the regular-style penjing with “six tiers, three supports, one crowning top.” To be precise, the regular-style penjing with “six tiers, three supports, one crowning top” should be prefixed with “Changshu,” because its place of origin is Changshu.
In 1986, Ji Peilong took Li Tongsen, an old master in the Changshu penjing circles, as his teacher. His eagerness to learn and down-to-earth work ethic moved the elderly Mr. Li Tongsen. Ji Peilong began with every branch and detail of penjing, from selecting materials, choosing soil, cultivating seedlings, watering, pruning, and management, slowly and carefully pondering each. In 1994, the old gentleman taught him hand by hand the shaping techniques of the regular-style penjing with “six tiers, three supports, one crowning top,” and also trained a Chinese elm tree that Ji Peilong had considered useless material into a penjing of the “six tiers, three supports, one crowning top” style. Through his teacher's guidance and his own intelligence and diligence, his penjing knowledge, aesthetic sense and production level continuously improved. In 1987, Ji Peilong established the Changshu Flower and Penjing Association, and in 1992 founded the Changshu Ziyuan Penjing Art Company. From then on, he not only devoted himself to the penjing cause, but also conducted in-depth research into the history and current situation of Changshu penjing.
As a representative inheritor of Su-style penjing, in addition to creating more and better Changshu penjing, Ji Peilong also opened a “Yushan Penjing” course at the Changshu Senior University to teach Changshu penjing shaping techniques. He said: “To promote Changshu penjing culture is an inescapable duty; to pass on Changshu penjing techniques is an bounden obligation.”
As one of the series of activities in Changshu to welcome the 10th China “Cultural Heritage Day,” this exhibition has positive significance for the dissemination and popularization of intangible cultural heritage knowledge. The exhibition will run from June 11 to June 19.