Bonsai

The very first time I came across a specimen of bonsai art, I never even realized that I was witnessing an art form. To my untrained eyes, the exquisite lemon bonsai specimen in my neighbor’s garden appeared like a novel but dwarfish specimen of the common lemon tree that I was more used to seeing. My neighbor son was also not much of an aid in understanding what I saw. He referred to the lemon tree as a ‘stunted, genetically short’ specimen that his father cultivated. The only clue he threw my way was when he said it was something called ‘bonsai’. It was a while before I could track down his father and get to know more about the bonsai specimen. And this man opened my eyes to a whole new world – where nature and man worked together to produce harmony in the form of what has come to be known and appreciated as bonsai.

Most people believe that the bonsai is a Japanese art form. Although it was the Japanese who developed bonsai into what it is today, the origins of the bonsai can be traced back to China. It was in this land of dragons that the very first specimen of bonsai was created. There was a practice among Chinese agrarians and artists to grow trees in pots. With limited availability of soil and the necessary nutrients, these trees adapted themselves and confined their growth to the dimensions that could be supported by the soil in the pot. This gave rise to stunted looking trees, with gnarled trunks and branches, which came to be prized as pon-sai. Even today, there is bonsai in China, but the refinement and artistic nature of the later Japanese version of bonsai, are still lacking.

When the Japanese interacted with the Chinese, they adopted several of their customs and traditions. The bonsai was one such Chinese cultural export. But it was the Japanese form of Zen Buddhism that refined the ugly and grotesque Chinese pon-sai to make them into representations of the divine harmony. Most records state that the initial bonsai in Japan were confined to the Zen Buddhist monasteries. But as the art evolved and gained acceptance, the Japanese aristocracy adopted it and it came to signify nobility, refinement and prestige.

But the bonsai is much more than a mere agricultural or horticultural experiment. Zen Buddhism transformed the bonsai and gave it a philosophy that continues to this day. According to the Japanese, the bonsai represents the usually oppositional forces of nature and man working together to create divine harmony. Thus, each bonsai is the representation of the individual’s understanding and manifestation of this inner harmony. The unique aspect of the bonsai is that although the soil, the plant and the other elements conducive to growing it are all contained within the pot, each of them can exist independently of the other. This is why a bonsai plant can be transplanted with relative ease, and in most cases exceeds the life span of the regular plant or tree that it is derived from.

In the present day materialistic world however, the bonsai has become a unique hobby or a pastime. And its commercial value has outstripped its philosophy. But maybe that too is a part and parcel of the natural evolution of man!