Esprit Bonsai International – August 2019

#101 EspritBonsaiInternational - 7

The spirit

of Bonsaï

A superb example of chokkan, created entirely through Japanese

cultural techniques, where each element occupies the position

that is appropriate for it within the overall harmony.

Pinus penthylla – Showa Kinen, Saitama, Japan.

Knowledge and action

Author: Gilbert Labrid

The art of bonsai developed

under the influence of powerful

men, who ensured the Harmony

between weakness and strength

by eliminating egotistical

elements. The same applies today.

W

ithout any knowledge, there

is no right action; and without

action, there is no proof of the

validity of knowledge. As we all

know, to govern is to plan ahead. If these

principles are applied to bonsai, organising

a plant’s masses into a harmonious form is

close to the art of good government.

The people who perpetuated bonsai

through the ages were mostly men who

possessed some sort of power: spiritual

(monks, literati); political (aristocrats, war-

riors); or material (bankers, merchants).

Today, the democratisation of society and

the globalisation of knowledge have altered

the historical and social data. Every indivi-

dual is free to access any activity that might

interest him or her, whatever his or her deep

underlying motivation.

Pruning is sacrifice

What difference is there between our era

and earlier times? The appreciation of form

has changed, knowledge is mostly technical

and the philosophical basis has been diluted

by personal satisfaction. However, when we

come face to face with a plant that is to be

styled as a bonsai, the questions that arise

are still the same: What choices to make?

With what aim? And by what means?

The tools have evolved, although scis-

sors and pliers remain essential; and culti-

vation techniques have improved. Shapes

have become more dynamic, elaborate and

sometimes more complex, the main aim

being to make a big aesthetic impact.

Whatever the reasons for pursuing a

particular form, pruning means weakening

and above all “sacrificing”, losing volunta-

rily, giving up on the idea of keeping eve-

rything. The reason this action is a sacri-

fice (= making something sacred) is that

the obvious loss is brought about with a

higher aim: that of obtaining a Harmony that

reconciles knowledge and power.

Selfish branches

Two of the classic styles are tricky to

create and above all to maintain in a state

of perfection, and are hardly ever seen any

more in exhibitions, even in Japan. Forests

and formal uprights (chokkan) are no lon-

ger popular among bonsai lovers. In the

West, almost all conifer bonsai are collec-

ted from nature. Work carried out on wild

trees is limited by their growing conditions.

They have no low branches; everything is

constructed from half or two-thirds of the

way up. Uprights are not collected because

they have no movement and the hierarchy

of branches is so distorted by their unchec-

ked existence that it is impossible to give

them any dynamism.

This hierarchy is paramount. The notion

of harmony relates not to the beauty of

a detail, but to the overall balance. This

balance is maintained by repeated pru-

ning on the strong, young parts – the crown

and the branch tips. Letting either of these

run free equates to ruining the whole. The

Japanese have a name for branches that

capture all the energy for their own bene-

fit and grow faster than the trunk: oyafuko

eda – “disrespectful” or “selfish branches”.

If they are not immediately brought to

book, the crown will thicken and the lower

branches will die, or the crown will wither

as its energy is sucked away by an interme-

diate branch. But on a chokkan, an alterna-

tion between strong and weak branches is

essential.

Likewise in a forest, which has the

appearance of being easy to create, you

cannot use a group of identical trees. You

need large ones, medium-sized ones, small

ones and slender ones to give depth and

produce a varied, poetic, balanced space.

The constant worry is how to preserve the

weakest, most fragile parts, as they are

essential to the style’s coherence. The art

resides in maintaining this balance.

Overall harmony

Recent events have confirmed the theo-

ry which stipulates that bonsai culture is the

prerogative of Japanese society. Those in

power in that country do not hesitate to

cut off selfish branches that divert society’s

energy for their own benefit, without taking

into account the balance needed for the

Harmony of all. �