Long before the bonsai art form of creating miniature trees came to Japan, the wealthy
in China were perfecting their craft known as “penzai” and “penjing.”
The former means “tray plant” and the latter “tray scenery.”
It is from the Japanese pronunciation of “penzai” that the word “bonzai” ultimately derives-
“bon” meaning “tray-like” and “sai” meaning “planting.”
(The Japanese equivalent of penjing is bonkei, meaning “tray landscape.”)
In the earliest form of penjing, first emerging as a developed art form around 600-700 AD
in China, people would collect native trees and grow them in small containers as a part
of elaborate miniaturized landscapes.
Those tiny landscapes were often given as gifts among China’s elite.
While Buddhist monks and delegations sent from Japan to China had been bringing back
to Japan miniaturized crafted landscapes as souvenirs starting not that long after the
art of penjing had been established in China, it wasn’t until the Kamakura period in Japan
(1192-1333 AD) that the Japanese seem to have adopted this craft.
The catalyst for this widespread adoption was the introduction of Zen Buddhism to Japan.
Around the same time in Japan, penjing was distilled down to single, miniature trees,
rather than miniature landscapes being the focus, with famed Zen master Kokan Shiren
being particularly influential in the spread of Zen Buddhism and defining bonsai as an
art form.
Besides not strictly being “invented” in Japan, another common misconception about
bonsai trees is that they are genetically dwarfed.
Instead, they are regular tree and shrub species, traditionally pine, maples, and azaleas, which
are manipulated using pruning techniques, including extensive root pruning, to dwarf
and shape the plants.
While there are many different styles of bonsai, keeping everything balanced is key for whatever
type and shape of bonsai tree that is grown, hence Mr. Miyagi’s lessons to Daniel-san
about balance in The Karate Kid and using the “baby trees,” as Daniel put it, as
a tool for it.
For instance, if a leaf or a branch is disproportionately large given the size of the tree, throwing
the whole thing out of balance, it should be removed.
One should also hide any signs of pruning, so that the resulting tree looks just like
it was naturally grown that way and a perfect, to scale, miniature of what the full size
version of the tree would look like if it had the same shape.
Once Japan adopted the craft from China, it began to spread among all classes of Japanese
society.
According to bonsai historian Robert Baran, by the late 18th century a show for “traditional
pine dwarf potted trees” was held annually in Kyoto where, ”Connoisseurs from five
provinces and the neighboring areas would bring one or two plants each to the show in
order to submit them to the visitors for ranking or judging.”
After Japan ended its over two centuries of isolation in the 19th century, the bonsai
tree would be popularized outside of the country at fairs and expos around the world, including
the Paris Expositions (1878, 1889) and the St. Louis World’s Fair (1904).
WWII proved both a blessing and a curse to the growth of the bonsai art form.
On the major downside, many growers did not continue in this line of work after the war
and numerous extremely old bonsai trees were destroyed.
Some effort was given to preserving them, however, such as workers at the Tokyo Imperial
Palace continually pouring water over and ultimately rescuing some of the remarkable
Imperial Collection as the Palace was burning around them after the allied bombing of Tokyo
on May 25, 1945.
On the positive side, at least in terms of helping to continue the popularization of
the bonsai tree outside of Japan, many Allied troops occupying Japan admired the art form
and even took classes in it, bringing it back with them to their respective homes.
More recently, the art form has been popularized in cinema with, of course, The Karate Kid
leading the way.
oldest-bonsai-treeToday, there is a World Bonsai convention that takes place every four
years to showcase the best bonsai masters and their work internationally.
Washington D.C. also houses the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum dedicated to the miniaturized
trees and landscapes.
And if you visit the Tokyo Imperial Palace and tour their bonsai collection, you can
spy some of the finest specimens in the world, including one of the oldest known bonsai trees,
the Third Shogun (pictured right), which is a five-needle pine that has been steadfastly
maintained for an astounding five and a half centuries.
You’ll often see people confusing “bonsai” and “banzai,” using the words interchangeably,
but this isn’t correct as illustrated by Mr. Miyagi, “Miyagi: Banzai!
Daniel: To baby trees.
Miyagi: Not bonsai, BANZAI!”
The former, of course, is more or less the “baby trees,” as Daniel stated.
The latter is simply an exclamation not unlike “Hurrah!”
or more aptly, “long live!”
though literally means “ten thousand years.”
Like the art of bonsai, this expression was adopted by the Japanese from China, where
it was originally just an expression used to wish long life to the emperor of China.