Zhao Qingquan: the production process of literati tree bonsai

Scene name: dusty tree species: black pine height: 106 cm tree age: 25 years author: Zhao Qingquan's creation of "Dust" began in early 2004. The material is a mountain-picked black pine (Fig. 1, 2). It was examined repeatedly before starting, and finally the front and back were selected (Fig. 1, Fig. 2). The main principles for selecting the front and back are: from the front, the trunk does not protrude; the root and the main branch extend longer to both sides and shorter to the front and back; if there is a bend in the trunk, the main branch should protrude from the convex part of the arc, but not from the arc. Figure 1. The front of the selected material

Figure 2. The back of the selected material

When you start, cut off some unwanted branches, such as opposite branches, overlapping branches, and overdense branches (figure 3). The branches that are not yet certain can be retained for the time being and will be decided later.

Figure 3. Preliminary pruning

In order to facilitate orthopaedics, close to the trunk lining with two thick wire, and then wrap the trunk with hemp skin to protect the bark from injury during orthopaedics (Fig. 4, Fig. 5). Figure 4. Wrap the trunk with hemp skin and lined with thick wire

Figure 5. Finish wrapping the hemp skin and then adjust the lower part of the trunk with flower basket bolts and sticks to achieve micro-bending (figure 6).

Figure 6. Bend the lower part of the trunk with flower basket bolts and sticks, and finally fasten the upper part of the trunk with wire, bend moderately, and make the side branches protrude from the convex part of the arc as far as possible (figure 7).

Fig. 7. After cultivation, the upper part of the trunk was initially shaped at the end of 2005, and the branches and leaves began to be plump (figure 8).

Fig. 8. At the end of 2005, two large branches in the middle of the trunk were cut off the following year, and then clamped with wire again, showing the shape of the literati tree (figure 9).

Figure 9. Climbing again, the initial literati tree form feels that the personality of the work is not yet distinct, and the top branches are cut off in 2011, so that the position of the largest drooping branch is relatively upward, and the tree appears to be more isolated. Only one twig is retained in the middle and lower part of the trunk to serve as a connecting link between the preceding and the following (figure 10). Figure 10. Cut off the top branches and basically complete the modeling in 2014, and replace them into irregular pottery basins (Fig. 11, Fig. 12).

Figure 11. Taken in June 2014

Figure 12. In the creative process of "dusting" on the back of the work, while making it fuller by means of cultivation, it is constantly reducing its branches and leaves until it can no longer be reduced. Not only the middle and lower part of the trunk rarely branches, even the top, but also as sparse as possible, and finally the top branch will be removed in order to "spotless" taste. This extremely simple aesthetic pursuit is in fact consistent with the Taoist "simplicity of the road" and Buddhism's "one flower, one world, one leaf, one bodhi". Incomplete forms often express the inner spirit more fully. "calmly join the WTO, light out of dust", the heart is at peace.