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CHINA | JAPAN | OTHER |
| 2000 |
*2000, Hong Kong Baptist University opened Man Lung Garden to promote Chinese heritage of penjing (a permanent location
would be set up in February 2005);
David Ren's The Imperial Rocks published in Chinese w/English.
(437)
The "Northern" style of penjing actually refers to those trees -- mostly conifers and certain deciduous or evergreen species such as maples, azaleas, etc. pruned and wired -- created in Yangtze River Valley of central provinces along Eastern seaboard. The "Southern" style are those styles of broadleaf evergreens and tropical species pruned w/very little need for wiring, and encountered in Pearl River Valley of China's Southern Provinces. Chinese trees are more free flowing and relaxed [than Japanese trees], energy appears to extend outward w/more room for individual expression, sometimes not so interested in every final detail, less predictable, and w/very few rules that artists must absolutely adhere to. They are much wider context, landscapes possibly w/stones and water, and sometimes also include small clay miniatures similar to figures and structures found in Chinese landscape paintings. Very few Chinese penjing artists have had opportunity to visit Western countries to display and demonstrate their art, and most Chinese artists are not [yet] used to performing in public. Particularly in Southeastern coastal provinces penjing is developing market w/huge potential. Lot of exchange and cooperation among artists and penjing association members from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. Overseas Chinese, particularly from other Asian countries also form part of this exchange. (438) * 2003, first Duo Lun Stone Appreciation Festival in Shanghai. * 2004, The collections of penjing masterpieces of Shanghai Botanical Garden published, as well as Chinese pen jing of the Nantong style, Chinese pen jing of the Suzhou style, Chinese pen jing of the Yangzhou style, and Chinese pen jing of the Zhejiang style. * 2005, Global Bonsai Stone Collection magazine began in collaboration w/Bonsai Clubs International. * 2006, "China is a place where there is a lot of money coming in at the present time from exports. Some people with money are buying bonsai from all around the world, so there are lots of great trees coming in. But the problem is that there are not enough experts who know how to properly maintain them." -- Masahiko Kimura (439) * 2008, First Chongqing Viewing Stones Culture Exhibition was held from Feb. 2-15 in the China Three Gorges Museum in Chongqing. * 2010, some recent Western observations:"People who do bonsai and suiseki are held in high regard. There are over 5 million people who do bonsai in China. The Chinese did not care one iota about the conventional standards adopted for bonsai. For example the rule of conifers in non-glazed and deciduous in glazed is not a recognized principle. Some of the conifers in glazed pots looked fantastic! The freedom of expression in bonsai enjoyable. Both bonsai and pen-jing tend to be large in size. The first impression was simply the fact that stones are displayed everywhere; shopping centers, hotels, street corners, they are there! The many of the stones are powerful in size and appearance. Some the size of a Volkswagen beetle. The daiza carvings and sheer size to handle the sizes of rocks collected are incredibly artistic and intricate." (440) |
* 2000, Marushima, Hideo and Hu Yun Hua's The World of Chinese Penjing published in 3 volumes.
* 2001, World Bonsai Friendship Federation's Bonsai of the World II published. * 2002, Kunio Kobayashi opened Shunka-en Museum in Eastern Tokyo's Edogawa City. (441) * 2004, Lisa Tajima's Pop Bonsai, Fun with Arranging Small Trees and Plants published, and Tokyo's Showa Kinen Park, 444 acres of former U.S. Air Base, opened Japan's first government-sponsored bonsai garden. (442) * 2005, Suiseki - An Art Created by Nature, The Nyogakuan Collection of Japanese Viewing Stones published. By this time version of bonsai -- recently seen as tired pasttime for elderly -- becoming popular among younger generation with easy-to-care-for mini-trees and landscapes, unwired and wilder-looking, using native plants. (443) * 2006, Masakuni II and III's The Secret Techniques of Bonsai published. * 2010, Omiya Bonsai Art Museum opened in Saitama. (444) * 2011, 9.0 earthquake of March 11 off of NE Honshu's Miyagi Prefecture, resulting tsunami, and damage to Fukushima Nuclear Plant initially caused relatively slight damage/loss to bonsai community... but the story continues. |
* 2000, first symposium of newly formed Association of British Bonsai Artists (ABBA)
held (ongoing); Awakening the Soul published by U.S. National Arboretum;
the first Nöelanders Trophy was awarded in Belgium (ongoing).
(445)
* 2001, Bonsai Online Magazine started; first North American Bonsai Pot Competition held; Phan Van Lít w/Lew Buller's Mountains in the Sea about Vietnamese tray landscapes Hňn Non Bô published, along w/five translations of Bonsai, Spirit and Substance (What Color is the Wind?) by Salvatore Liporace and Patrizia Cappellaro De Martino, Dr. John L. Creech's The Bonsai Saga: How the Bicentennial Collection Came to America, Jack Douthitt and Warren Hill's Bonsai -- The Art of Living Sculpture, and Saburo Kato's Forest, Rock Planting & Ezo Spruce Bonsai in English; 13-part "Lindsay Farr's The Way of Bonsai" broadcast on television in Australia. (446) * 2002, First African International Bonsai Convention held in Pretoria, South Africa, and first biennial International Stone Appreciation Symposium (ongoing); Craig Coussins' The Bonsai School, Martin Treasure's Bonsai life histories, and Kemin Hu's Scholars' Rocks in Ancient China published. Dr. Thomas S. Elias presented detailed "History of the Introduction and Establishment of Bonsai in the Western World" at International Symposium in Washington, D.C. (then expanded it for 2005 WWBF Convention). (447) * 2003, during past five years spending on plants and pots for container gardening in general increased 45% in U.S. (448) * 2004, First Annual Philippine Bonsai Society, Inc. National Bonsai Exhibition and Open Competition held (ongoing); Michel Phaneuf's Bonsai Montreal: Célébration Des 25 Ans de la Société de Bonsaď published. (449) * 2005, Jack Billet-supervised John Naka's Sketchbook, Mary Miller's Bonsai with Tropicals, Ken Norman's The Complete Practical Encyclopedia of Bonsai, Robert Steven's Vision of My Soul, Lew Buller's Saikei and Art: Miniature Landscapes, Bonsai of Indonesia: Twenty Five Years of Indonesian Bonsai Society, and Robert J. Baran and Paul Steele's The Bonsai Coloring Book published; Art of Bonsai project was launched; first BonsaiAutumn display (ongoing). * 2006, Daan Giphart and Lévon Arzooyan's Bonsai potters published, along w/Craig Coussins' Bonsai Master Class and Peter Chan's Bonsai Secrets. Also, Lindsay Farr's The World of Bonsai, biweekly downloadable videos about art in Japan and China. * 2007, Bonsai Europe magazine merged w/Bonsai Today to become Bonsai Focus; Green Hobby launched as first Indonesian language bonsai magazine; Manette Gerstle's Beyond Suiseki: Ancient Asian Viewing Stones Of The 21st Century published. * 2008, National Bonsai and Penjing Collection of Australia opened in temporary location in Commonwealth Park in central Canberra; First National Bonsai Exhibition took place in Rochester, NY (second would be held in 2010); Larry Jackel's Ponderosa Pines as Bonsai published. * 2011, some recent observations from Vietnam: "Better pots (than cheap cast cement) are very hard to find and they can be very costly because of this. Better pots from abroad do not always make it to the ordering customer. Unless you have a tree which has always been in your family you will have less than no chance of knowing who the original artist was. Most trees are started in small local nurseries, crafted by guys making about $2 a day (if that). Theft, of anything that looks good, is all too common and widespread. Like many other things desired by the rich owning or leasing Bonsai has become a symbol of wealth. A rich family won't donate a dong to a poor person on the street but they will spend thousands on flashy consumer goods to show how much money they have. Bonsai has become part of that. While this is going on it drives the price of everyday trees up and up. The good personal collections are hidden, chained, fenced and guarded by nasty little dogs. If not they would be gone. There is little or no thought to the future of a tree when it is collected/dug/etc. A complete lack of, what we would consider, finesse in planning of the design or even what may happen tomorrow. When they were dug they were simply ripped out of the ground then the surface roots cut back too near the trunk -- at right angles. You now have big surface roots that end in ugly stumps with no way to hide this except to bury them. They do the same thing with larger branches while leaving a large stump to rot away. Some Bonsai growers in Ha Noi have said 'No' to the greed of the rich men. They have refused to rent or sell their prize trees for Tet because they realize that there is no interest other than 'showing wealth' and trying to bring luck. They are afraid that the trees will be ill-treated and possibly killed just for money. This is a good start." (450) |
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