Author and artist Peter Chan sheds light on the history of bonsai and how it originated in China. He tells Divya Kaushik about the art of crafting and maintaining plants
Crafting, cutting, chopping — these were the keywords that led the discussion between Peter Chang and a group of Bonsai enthusiasts from India. The author and self-taught Bonsai artist, Peter, was holding a workshop here to break common myths about bonsai and give few tips on how you can maintain your bonsai plants for a longer period and how you can make them look more attractive. “The most common myth that people have about bonsai is that they think it is cruel to cut down the branches of the trees and limit its growth to a certain size. I do not see any logic in this as those who are into gardening would know that to maintain any sort of plant or even grass we need to trim it, same is the case with bonsai. It is just a different kind of art and the term is used to describe miniature paintings in containers or pots,” said Peter who is of Chinese ethnicity and was born in India. He moved to the UK in 1963 and started experimenting with bonsai in 1967 when ceramics was his main hobby. He worked as an energy policy adviser in the UK Department of Energy and after 20 years of service he decided to quit his job to turn his hobby of bonsai into a business venture. Today, his nursery Herons Bonsai is the UK’s premier bonsai nursery.
Bonsai is believed to be a Japanese art form, but Peter says that even before Japanese, the Chinese knew the art of Bonsai. “It is an over 2,000-year-old tradition in China and Chinese are known for their brilliant bonsai and ceramic works. The Japanese art of bonsai originally came from the Chinese practice of Penjing. Sixth century onwards, Imperial embassy personnel and Buddhist students from Japan had been visiting mainland China, bringing back souvenirs that included container plantings. At least 17 diplomatic missions were specifically sent from Japan to the Tang court between the years 603 and 839. Japanese tradition of bonsai is over 1,000-year-old. After China and Japan, the art has been picked up by other cultures and even in India, over the last few years, there’s been a growth in the number of bonsai societies. Bonsai is picking up among people as a hobby and is just like painting or sculpting,” explained Peter. Keeping in mind the modern urban scenario where people mostly are left with less or no space for gardening, bonsai can be a good option. “But a lot of emphasis is paid on beautification. So one should be careful about the kind of pots one is selecting and also on the techniques of trimming so that bonsai can easily become part of your interiors,” said Peter. He added that most bonsai plants die because owners do not water the plants. “Since they are miniature plants growing in small pots, it is easy to forget to water them. Families go on vacation, without paying attention to the plant and then it dies. Apart from watering the plant, repotting is also important. It must occur at intervals dictated by the vigour and age of each tree,” he added.
The author of books like Bonsai Masterclass and Choosing and Growing Bonsai, said that like other arts, art of bonsai can be learnt from practice and some are born with the creativity to think of coming up with different bonsai. There are different styles of bonsai. The most common styles include formal upright characterised by a straight, upright, tapering trunk, informal upright with visible curves in trees and branches, slant style with straight trunks and cascade style, which are modelled after trees that grow over water or down the sides of mountains.
The techniques and art of display of bonsai are getting popular with increasing number of exhibitions worldwide. “There are no fixed rules to crafting your own bonsai. Exhibitions help create an interest in the art,” ended Peter.