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Bonsai in Asia Guide Book
Bonsai in China
About Penjing in China
Chinese Schools of Penjing
Worlds of Wonderment
Gongshi - Chinese Scholar's Rocks
Central China - Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou
Southern China - Canton, Gulin
Useful information about Bonsai in China - other visitors experiences
Asian Longhorn Beetles - Warning for tree importers
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8th Asia-Pacific Bonsai and Suiseki Convention
The 8th Asia-Pacific Bonsai and Suiseki (Penjing and Shangshi) Convention and Exhibition will be held in the Beijing Botanical Garden on September 6-8, 2005.
Click here for more details
BCI World Penjing & Shangshi Exposition 2006
BCI World Penjing & Shangshi Exposition 2006 - Foshan city, Guangdong province
Chinese potted landscapes, similar to the Japanese Bonsai, have been famous for centuries and often described as "soundless poetry" or "living sculpture". In a pot no larger than a wash basin, the ingenious craftsmen create a miniature reproduction of a natural scene using stunted trees and plants, rocks and sometimes water. It is difficult to determine when the Chinese first started to grow Penjing grown because in the beginning they were only a folk art. A mural in the tomb of Crown Prince Li Xian of the early Tang Dynasty shows that they had already won royal favour by then. Great Tang and Song poets like Wang Wei, Han Yu, Bai Juyi, Su Dongpo and Lu You all mentioned them. Monographs describing the miniaturizing of trees and the art of miniature rockeries began to appear in the Song Dynasty and reached their peak in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Potted landscapes require painstaking efforts to create, taking dozens to hundreds of years. Craftsmen devote all their lives to their art works only to have later generations enjoy them to the fullest.
Chinese Schools of Penjing - read all of this very comprehensive article
With China's rich history, wide ranging geographical and climatic conditions and the considerable variations in regional cultural conditions, Penjing masters have placed different emphases on the cultivation of artistic pot plants and different schools of thought and practice have emerged. Chinese artistic pot plants can be classified into six major schools. They are the Suzhou and Zhejiang School, the Hunan and Hubei School, the Sichuan School, the Liaoning School, the Beijing and Shanghai School, and the Lingnan (Guangzhou) School.
Man Lung Garden - more interesting information about Penjing
Man Lung Penjing
Mr Wu's 1st book, Man Lung Artistic Pot Plants, gives a detailed description of the history and development of penjing and many lovely illustrations with full explanations. A New Book "Man Lung Penjing" by Mr Wu Yee-Sun is now available and is a witness of Mr. Wu's efforts in establishing his signature style of penjing over the last seven decades. - This website has been created in order to continue the tradition of discussion and exchange among penjing experts and hobbyists, anyone interested is invited to visit the website.
About Chinese Penjing and LingNan style - by Gary Wong
Aristocratic Chinese Penjing - an interesting series of articles about Penjing.
Penjing: An Ancient Art with a Modern Twist - by Keith Davies
Penjing is the Chinese art of creating a miniature landscape in a container. Using trees, rocks, or a combination of the two, the Chinese artist seeks to express the beauty of a conceptual idea, to grant outward form to an inner vision. Penjing magically and succinctly captures the atmosphere and magnificence inherent in a natural landscape. The artist strives to express the mood and spirit observed in Nature and the emotions or morality instilled in him. Click on the above link to get more info about this book written by Mr Qingquan Zhao who is China's most outstanding Penjing master.
Buy the Penjing: Worlds of Wonderment book
Click on this link and you will be able to purchase this great book about Chinese Penjing.
Also on Karin Albert's Penjing Website you will be able to learn more about the history, aesthetics, and spiritual background of Penjing and related articles, and view photo's of some stunning Penjing masterpieces and Chinese Viewing Stones, and more.
Gongshi - Chinese Scholar's Rocks or Spirit Stones
In China, Chinese Scholar's Rocks or Spirit Stones are called Gongshi. Historically Gongshi has been appreciated by Chinese connoisseurs for more than a thousand years. As early as the Tang dynasty (618-907AD), scholars, officials and persons of refined tastes began appreciating their unusual forms by placing in their studios for indoor viewing smaller sized rare rocks formerly used in outdoor gardens. They were also presented as tribute objects to emperors and were transported to Japan and Korea.
Chinese Scholar's Rocks - Great information on this site about the different chinese Gongshi.
The Viewing Stone - this website has a lot of information about Scholar Rocks fron China, Korea and Japan.
Stone Art - Ms. Lian's Stones, China - With some of these stones for sale.
The 8th Asia-Pacific Bonsai and Suiseki (Penjing and Shangshi) Convention and Exhibition will be held in Beijing Botanical Garden on September 6-8, 2005.
Click here for more details
The first thing you'll notice about the Beijing Botanical Garden is that it's huge. More than 450 staff members, including 350 groundskeepers, work in the garden, which covers 200 hectares, according to Liu Zonglai of the park management office. Attractions include China's largest rose garden, Yellow Leaf Village (Huangyecun), a Bonsai garden which is said to include a 1,300-year-old ginkgo, Potted landscapes, Reclining Buddha Temple, Peony garden (best in May) and red peach blossom garden. The Potted Landscape (Bonsai) Garden is an important exhibition area in the Beijing Botanical Garden. Occupying a total area of about 20,000 square metres, it is one of the largest potted landscape gardens in China.
The Bonsai garden is divided into two parts: internal exhibition and external exhibition. The internal exhibition is further divided into the Exhibition Hall of Fine Potted landscapes, the Comprehensive Exhibition Hall and the Exhibition Hall for Different Schools, Which exhibits some of the outstanding works from Beijing and the other parts of China. The external exhibition, however, is composed of four gardens which mainly manifest large scale outdoor planted miniature gardens. More than 70 of these miniature trees are over 100 years old. Among all the plantations, the largest one, an ginkgo stump named "Feng Shuang Jing Lv"(Weather-beaten strong contingent), is estimated to be more than 1,300 years old.
The Beijing Botanical Garden, located at the base of the Fragrant Hills, is open from 6:30am to 8pm every day and costs ´4. Take bus 360 (from the Beijing Zoo), bus 333 (from the Summer Palace), or direct your taxi to "Wofosi" or "Zhiwuyuan." The trip takes roughly an hour from downtown. Tel: 62591283 - another link for the Beijing Botanical Garden
Summer Palace (Yiheyuan) - Beijing
This palace was the "summer home" of the emperor during the Ming and Qing dynasties, located in Haidian District, some 12 kilometers northwest of the downtown, the Summer Palace is the largest imperial garden in the world. The landscape architects have utilized Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake to create a paradise of hills and waters. Artisans reproduced the garden architecture styles of various palaces in China (including a Penjing Garden) and combined them to create a harmonious atmosphere, a veritable museum of classical Chinese garden architecture.
Useful information about Bonsai in China - other visitors experiences
Asian Longhorn Beetles - Warning for tree importers
Asian Longhorn Beetles and Larvae have been found on Bonsai trees that were imported from China and shipped to L.A. The native range of these pests include Japan, Korea and China, anyone with a tree imported from China should check it and all yard trees for big exit holes as the beetles are emerging now (April). Trees favored as food by the Long-horned beetle include - poplar, willow, elm, locust, mulberry,
orange, tangerine, pear, apple, ficus, sycamore, lychee, Japanese cedar, beech, maple, crepe myrtle, walnut, oak, catalpa and cherry. For further information click on the above link or contact
Dr. Nina Shishkoff, Long Island Horticultural Research Lab NS44@cornell.edu Ph:516-727-3595 Fax: 516-727-3611
Pittsburgh Bonsai Society inspiring photo's of Chinese Bonsai - taken in Shanghai and Yangzhou
Bonsai Inspirations from China - Dianne Miller from New Zealand has visited China several times, here are her recollections and photo's from some of the most inspirational places she has been, also some details about Bonsai Displays and Bonsai contacts in China. This is very informative and reading is a must if you are planning to visit China with lots of information about Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Yixing, Wuzhou, Yangshuo, Guilin, Huangshan, Shilin, Emeishan.
The lonely Planet - Very good online guide on China
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