With hundreds of color photographs and illustrations, this Chinese gardening book is a wonderful introduction to penjing—China's treasured bonsai art. Although most people thing bonsai is a Japanese invention, the art originated in ancient China where it is called penjing. The two Chinese characters for penjing ("pot" and "landscape") capture the essence of this art: sculpting microcosms of the beauty of the natural world from plants, rocks, soil, and water, both as an artistic process and as horticultural cultivation. Both penjing and bonsai are art forms that express the beauty of nature. In China, bonsai, as a part of penjing, is often called "tree penjing," or "tree in a pot." The Chinese divide penjing into three categories: tree penjing, rock penjing, and water-and-land penjing. This Chinese gardening book showcases the Chinese art of penjing in all its aspects for the benefit of penjing aficionados and all other readers interested in Chinese culture. It covers the concept, history, categories, aesthetic features, techniques, display, appreciation, and preservation of penjing. It is a feast for the eyes while providing a wealth of information for the academically inclined as well as the practically minded. There are more than 300 lavish illustrations grouped into three different categories of penjing. The reader will not only be awed by the beautiful compositions of penjing, but will also learn about the Chinese approach to nature and to life.

Penjing: The Chinese Art of Bonsai: A Pictorial Exploration of Its History, Aesthetics, Styles and Preservation

History

Zhao, Qingquan

Asia

Shanghai Press

The art of bonsai is widely known in the West: from the Karate Kid to the American Bonsai Association and even local grocery stores, bonsai has become a common sight in the States. But bonsai, the Japanese art of creating miniature trees, actually originated in China, where it's called penjing. Penjing, meaning "tray scenery," is a traditional Chinese art of creating miniature potted landscapes including trees and other plants. Brought from China to Japan in ancient times before spreading to the West, bonsai/penjing is now popular throughout the world. In China, the art of creating miniature landscapes has evolved in several different ways. Literati Style Penjing: Chinese Bonsai Masterworks focuses on a special category of penjing associated with traditional Chinese culture, such as the painting of the literati, or elite scholar-bureaucrats, of imperial China. Like literati ink paintings, this style of penjing has a subtle elegance distinguished by a lone, lean trunk with sparse foliage exhibiting distinct lines and simplicity. The term "literati style penjing" has been widely accepted by the bonsai community and is becoming more common within the bonsai world. It is well suited to melding concepts from Chinese painting, poetry and Zen into a stunning bonsai work, making it of interest to a wide variety of gardening styles. Literati Style Penjing; Chinese Bonsai Masterworks explains the concept of penjing with a literati bent, exploring its rich history and aesthetics, as well as cultivation techniques, and care and maintenance. It includes 12 examples of literati style penjing creations, which incorporate a deep knowledge of the art form together with practical creativity and artistic beauty. Lovers of bonsai will find much to inspire and delight within these pages.

Literati Style Penjing: Chinese Bonsai Masterworks

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Crafts & Hobbies

About the Author\nZhao Qingquan (1949-) is a master of the Chinese art of penjing, an International Bonsai Instructor at Bonsai Clubs International, and an International Consultant for the World Bonsai Friendship Federation. He pioneered a new form of penjing—the water-and-land penjing. An internationally renowned master, Zhao has attended conferences and given lectures and demonstrations around the world. In 2001, his penjing Trident Maples was added to the collection of the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum of the US National Arboretum.\nThe word penjing can be roughly translated from the Chinese as "potted scenery." It is the original, older form of the art of bonsai. Penjing aims to embody entire natural scenes within individual works. Penjing is sometimes described as Chinese landscape painting in three dimensions. It aims to make viewers feel as though they were really in nature, contemplating the ripples on the surface of a lake or sheltering from the sun in the shade of a tree. It is an art form that is still, yet full of dynamic energy, embodying the natural beauty of trees, stones, and water. The book gives detailed guidance and instruction to those who wish to create a vivid miniature landscape of their own. It also describes the creation process of several outstanding examples of forest penjing, with accompanying photographs from each stage of their “journey” towards completion. Meant for beginners and experts alike, the information and techniques outlined in this book can help sow the seed of a new love for penjing or to refine the craft of a seasoned penjing designer.\nExcerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.\nForest Penjing (excerpt)\nPenjing can be viewed as the sculpture of natural scenes. Jointly created by man and nature, it is an art form that combines natural beauty and artistic beauty, the two aspects for which penjing is appreciated. 
1. Natural and Ecological Beauty 
Trees are the main materials for forest penjing. They possess not only natural forms and colors, but also vital signs and natural charm. Therefore, a forest penjing made of trees is like a living work of art, exhibiting a relationship between plants that mirrors that of a natural forest. The work changes with the growth of the trees and presents different scenes with the alteration of the seasons, making viewers feel as if they were right at the source. Realistic and overflowing with the energy of nature, these works exhibit natural and ecological beauty. 
The vital signs of forest penjing determine that the creation of penjing is a process of continuity. Unlike a work of painting or sculpture which, once completed, requires no further changes, a forest penjing usually cannot be completed once and for all but needs continuous effort because the trees keep growing and changing. Some works may not be satisfying now, but as the plants grow, they may improve with time. But, on the other hand, they may also lose their desired shape. Therefore, continuity in creation is a special charm of the penjing art form, because it can fill viewers with boundless expectations. 
The natural and ecological beauty of forest penjing is embodied not only in the beauty of the root, trunk, branch, leaf, flower, and fruit, but also in the beauty of the community of trees, changing of the seasons, and different kinds of forests. 
Beauty of the Root: Some roots stretch in all directions, solid and stable; some rise up high, revealing themselves in the air; some intertwine with the roots of other trees, forming an organic whole; some have plants growing out of them, forming a grove; some penetrate cracks in rocks, struggling to survive in a harsh environment (fig. 10). They come in varied forms, each displaying their own unique beauty. 
Beauty of the Trunk: Trunks come in a diverse range of shapes. Some grow straight up, vigorous and tall; some lean in a certain direction, displaying great momentum; some are gracefully twisted, rich in

Forest Penjing: Enjoy the Miniature Landscape by Growing, Care and Appreciation of Chinese Bonsai Trees

Gardening & Landscape Design

SCPG

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