Would you call this a Bunjin style bonsai? Whatever you call it, you don't see too many bonsai that look like this. Even most bunjin are not quite like this; most are conifers and most don't have such a meandering array of multiple trunks, especially multiple crossing trunks. And then there's the leaf size (is this a Sumac?).Without a doubt… Back to our the archives. But not to just any old post; this one from 2012 provoked what was and still is, without a doubt, the best discussion we’ve ever had (in six and a half years and over 1,000 posts). It’s included, word for word (blow by blow) in its full splendor below the line at the bottom of this post. I invite you to take a look.
I’ve long had a soft spot for the type of bonsai shown here. The uncontrived elegance that shows no concern for our current interest in muscular trunks, wide nebaris, carved wood… even most bunjin bonsai don’t quite go where these trees seem to go (Kyuzo Murata‘s early to mid-twentieth century Japan comes to mind).
All the trees in this post were on display at the Hanyu Uchikutei Exhibition. The photos were all lifted from Michael Bonsai’s facebook photos. I cropped and enlarged them for more close-up views. Thus the slightly fuzzy effect on some.
I think you would call this graceful beauty (full moon maple?) a bunjin, though you don't see many upright bunjin in cascade pots (or upright bonsai of any type in cascade pots), let alone deciduous bunjin. Speaking of the pot...
Such a heavy pot for such thin trunks is not something you see every day. Is this a type of Lilac?
This one is a little closer to what you might expect in a bunjin style bonsai. After all, it's a conifer. But still, there's something quite unique about it. It reminds me of the tall narrow pines you see driving though central Florida.
Too subtle? I wonder if many bonsai enthusiasts would give a tree like this a second look. Is it another Full moon maple?The comments from the original post are below.
They’re pretty and engaging, but please don’t confuse these compositions with bunjin (the pines excepted, perhaps). Bunjin has nothing whatsoever to do with mere “thin trunks.” Bunjin is a aesthetic projection of certain qualities…which are often easiest to portray with thinner trunks, but as a means, not an end. There are some great bunjin bonsai that are quite heavily wooded.
Bunjin is almost entirely concerned with wabi-sabi. Wabi, expressing modesty, melancholy, poverty, simplicity, loneliness, quiet dignity. Sabi, portraying great age, transience, patina, impermanence.
This requirement for quiet dignity in lonely poverty would exclude the examples posted here; rich in their almost decadent display (again, the pines excepted, perhaps). No, these are not bunjin, nor even distant cousins. But they are quite nice!
Regarding your comment of the pine trees you see driving through central Florida…actually they are spread throughout Florida even here in Fort Myers. They are either Pinus Clausa (Ocala Pine) or Pinus Elliotti (Slash Pine). Both are challenging to develop as Bonsai.
Andy,
Thanks for your deep insights into bunjin and beyond. Very well said.
I’m going to play a little defense now. There are two trees that I identified as bunjin or a lot like bunjin. The pines, where I agree with you… “excepted perhaps.”
The other is the maple in the cascade pot. Though I get your point, to my eyes it displays much of what is commonly identified as bunjin. Maybe even some wabi sabi or maybe just something intangible that looks and feels like bunjin.
Thanks Wayne,
It’s hard to continue here without getting necessarily detailed. Minutiae and pickypick follow.
The maple displays some austere qualities, but neither age nor poverty are among them. This is a youthful plant with youthful scars (nodes where branches were removed) and its perky foliage destroys any hint of transience or loneliness. The large leaves–specific to the variety, though they be (as such is no excuse)–conflict with wabi-sabi. There is no getting around the fact that this is a young, proud, happy plant. In no way bunjin.
Then there is the matter of the display. Bonsai is not the plant, but the display. This pot is stylistically modern and mildly garish. Completely without humility. It also provides no hint of an environment that could have cultivated the proper qualities or could have told a story consistent with wabi-sabi.
As for the pines, the branches are beautifully natural and not overtly manicured. However, the central portion is far too robust to evoke enough wabi-sabi. This is excellent material for artful display in that direction, but it is as yet unmade. Moreover, the pot is far too dull and robust, and the stand conflicts horribly with the over-rich pot.
Bonsai is not the tree, it is the display; all the elements. They must harmonize and all tell the same story, or components of the same story. These stories are different than those of wabi-sabi and bunjin. Hope all this makes sense.
…I should note that with the pines, even the soil surface preparation is far too lush and rich for a bunjin display. Environment! The artist must portray the proper environment with all of the components (tree, soil surface, pot, stand, scroll, etc…).
A robust discussion on bonsai – that’s what I think places like this are for. Thank you Wayne and Andy – really interesting to read what you’ve both written.
For instance…
Even with a very few, but vital adjustments (mostly reduction), the pines begin to take on the bunjin quality:
http://bonsaijournal.com/images/virtuals/bunjinvirt1.jpg
Hope this helps.
Thank you both Wayne and Andy. I also have a soft spot for a youthful, exhuberant tree in a surprising pot. Before reading Andy’s posts I might have casually thought of the little maple as bunjin and I won’t make that mistake again. It’s really a brash seedling, just starting it’s journey and full of energy. The rhus at the top of the page I also find very charming. It’s good to look at work less constrained by tradition and I have trees like this just for the joy of looking at them.
The pines are very much straight out of a Chinese landscape painting…. doesn’t get much more bunjin/literati. Would really look nice on a rock slab.
The compound leaf is Rhus suceedana, a Japanese sumac from which lacquer is made. Yes, it’s related to poison ivy, and some folks are allergic.
The first maple could be a japonicum/full//August moon or shirasawanum microphyllum. The japonicum tend to be a little coarser than this. At least the ones I have grown.I think japonicum/shirasawanum, may be the same genus. Unless it’s from the Pac NW, in which case it may be a vine maple.
Wabi-shmabi. Not part or our cultural paradigm. Question is “You likea dis?/ You no likea dis?” I tire of people trying to hammer-fit Japanese aesthetics to our sensibilities. We can relate to Chinese landscape painting because we see so much of it and mostly understand it. Wabi and sabi? Not so much. Trying to push that on Americans is like trying to get the Chicago Bears to wear lace panties. The important aspects of this planting as they strike me are the naturalness, and yes, the quiet good taste. So we arrive at the same kind of appreciation, but in terms of our own cultural experiences and sensibilities, because the beauty of this planting is universal, and the message is the same in all languages. Unless you grew up north of the Arctic Circle, and have never seen a tree.
And now we can see how racism and jingoism have no place in discussions of artistry.
The terms used are cultural, but the concepts are not; they are human. There is not human born of any culture and who appreciates art that fails to appreciate these concepts I’ve described (and did not invent).
Ideals and foundations vital to an art form ever find disagreement in the smallest of minds. Learn artistry and you will know humanity; the culture and the anticulture, the uplifting and the lowly.
Well said, Andy
I am at best a newbie in my knowledge of bonsai aesthetics and/or wabi sabi. But with a quick google search and a stay at a Holiday Inn Express I can now say that I think that these trees are literati-esque. Wabi Sabi seems to be broad enough, again in my narrow mind, that it is in the artists hands to pull out/express/define the details of impermanance/imperfection/suffering. It seems to me that youthful vigor is fleeting, and with the right design can be utilized in the wabi sabi aesthetic. While suffering may be a little harder to express, I am sure a talented artist can find a way. I am just trying to better my understanding of the concept. Andy seems well versed and I find it interesting. maybe you can point me in the direction of some in depth information. My last question is does it really matter? Can you make bunjin without wabi sabi? If not I have a lot to learn…
Sorry Andy, but where was the racism? I must have missed it.
What a great discussion. I never know how a post is going to be received and it’s always gratifying when a genuine discussion arises. Even if it exposes my ignorance.
So thanks everyone and particularly, thanks Andy for not holding back what you know and believe. I look forward to more.
Wayne & Andy, thanks for sharing your thoughts. Very interesting discussion and I learned a new word! Thanks again!
//Ingvar
Matt,
Thanks for your questions. Good ones! I’ve been talking in something close to absolutes, but there is of course a spectrum of success. One can make a bunjin-style bonsai without much reference to wabi-sabi qualities, but it would be a rather unsuccessful effort.
Some qualities can be created artistically while other qualities simply require decades to develop and cannot be created artificially.
Don’t let these archetypal absolutes I’ve referenced prevent you from making your own efforts toward bunjin bonsai. It’s a journey, not a destination. :) Get started however you may!
The pot of the hydrangea may seem heavy to the trunk size, but they are balancing the weight of the foliage and flower mass to the pot.
Thank you, everyone, for this informative and thought provoking discussion.
I’m relatively new to bonsai (even less experienced with bonsai display), but I have worked extensively with people.– One tree that really speaks to me is the maple in the cascade pot: For some reason the pot doesn’t bother me as much as I think it should…though I would personally use something more shallow and simple. The tree itself does have a youthfulness,…but also a history; for a young tree, this maple already displays struggle and suffering. This is something I’m all too familiar with in our youngsters these days. I work on a weekly basis with students half my age who have been through far more suffering than I have. And this tree depicts some of that for me. The foliage is “perky” but there is also the understanding that this is seasonal foliage, and still a bit sparse for a plant this young. I don’t know that I see “pride”,…maybe drive, persistence, determination or even perserverence. (To me pride is more visible in a stately, upright park/broom style tree, even a tall spruce or pine.)
I appreciate the styles and guidance we have form others who have gone before us in the art-form, but I also believe that there are just as many style possiblitys as there are human stories and experiences. I believe this maple tells a very convincing story; maybe not old, but certainly relevant. It is young but knows suffering, youthful yet profoundly experienced. Maybe even some wisdom can be found in this trees drive to succeed and continue it’s journey upward despite the trials it has already faced so young.
Please understand that I do not wish to be argumentative or disrespectful; Only to share the discussion from my perspective and understanding.
–On a side note; can any of you point me to extensive articles covering bujin, wabi-sabi and the like? If there isn’t much out there maybe some of you (Andy ;) ) would be willing to write someting up…?
Thanks for the great post and discussion!
Dan W.
Hi Dan,
Thanks for pitching with your thoughts. I believe this post has created the biggest buzz of any in our almost four years (could that really be? four years!).
I realize this is really late to put in my two cents-worth on this thread, but these plants remind me of my question about where a potted plant leaves off and a real bonsai begins. What’s the difference here? Andy, I’d be particularly interested in hearing your thoughts on this.