Nai Weng and his bonsai art

Nai Weng and his bonsai art

Original author | Fu Quan

Mr. Nai Weng (1912-1998) is a famous bonsai artist in China. Bonsai techniques, written and published in 1982, is the first professional book on the theory and practice of bonsai creation from creation to appreciation and evaluation after the Cultural Revolution. Many bonsai lovers in modern China have received the most useful instruction from this book and entered the hall of bonsai art.

In his book, he proposed that bonsai creation should respect nature and the growth law of plants, and have the creative principle of beautiful natural trees in the bosom. In bonsai creation techniques, he combines the skills of "storing branches and cutting dry branches" in Lingnan and "Panza" in Suzhou. He created the creative technique of "giving priority to cultivation and the combination of carving and cutting", which was the founder of modern Xiamen bonsai. His bonsai works such as "read all the Spring in the World" and "Yingge Yan Dance" are examples of this skill. Mr. Nai Weng called the root beauty, air root beauty and root beauty of banyan tree as the three beauties of banyan tree, and pointed out the dialectical and unified relationship between the three beauties. Stop the cloud is a rare treasure with perfect beauty and ingenuity. Mr. Nai Weng also creatively used startled branches, flying branches, flying crowns, inverted branches and other methods to deal with some special branches. For example, his bonsai works, such as "blowing the clouds and holding the sun", "the eagle", "the sky is high and the clouds are light", "the girl comes out of the bath" and so on all reflect his technique. In 1985, the "Xiamen Bonsai Flower Association" was established and sponsored the "Minnan Horticulture" publication, held cross-county and city bonsai exhibitions, and publicized and spread bonsai skills. Under his active promotion, the bonsai art in our province has been rapidly improved and developed, and gradually walked to the forefront of the country. Zhao Puchu, late vice chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, wrote an inscription praising: "Shenxiu is not a natural clock, but must know the craftsmanship, the centenarian pine and cypress pots are luxuriant, and the Qianzhang smoke clouds are almost thick." Lack of view, endless learning, like to see horticulture Zhen Nanzong. Tanagawa elegant Wu Gongyan, and save and watch Shaolong. "

Under the influence of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, Chinese bonsai art emphasizes the harmony of things and the unity of man and nature. Performance in the bonsai pay attention to the unity of shape and spirit, strong and soft, the modeling of the bonsai to be personified, pay attention to artistic conception. As for the relationship between form and spirit, Mr. Nai Weng wrote in his potted skills: "charm lies in form, like the abundance and beauty of human beings." The shape is good, that is, the charm is overflowing. His bonsai works all have such characteristics, paying attention to the expression of artistic conception and personal feelings, and paying attention to the arrangement of characters and scenery. The shaped bonsai has a title, endless charm, people never get tired of seeing, with a distinct national style. Mr. Nai Weng advocated that the bonsai should not be too big or too small. "if it is too big, it will plant trees on the ground, but if it is too small, it will not show the beauty of the potted trees, which is not appropriate," he said. The real bonsai art must "see the big in the small".

In the past, people regarded bonsai creation as the manual work of craftsmen, which was called "making" bonsai. Mr. Nai Weng said that it should be changed to "creation", which means artistic processing. Mr. Nai Weng is the first person who regards bonsai as an "art", systematically and scientifically summarizes its creative theory, introduces its creative methods, and reveals its inherent law.

Mr. Nai Weng clearly points out that correct aesthetics is the forerunner of artistic creation, emphasizing that "aesthetics is the driving force of bonsai art creation" and "aesthetics is the driving force of innovation", and regards aesthetics as the central link in the creation and study of bonsai skills.

First, the aesthetic thought in Nai Weng plant bonsai.

As for the study of beauty, there is an obvious difference between China and the West. What is beauty mainly from the perspective of philosophy? What is the essential attribute of beauty? Where is the beauty of Chinese traditional aesthetics directly from the perspective of art? How can it be beautiful? Associate beauty with the grasp of beauty.

In his four songs of appreciation and appreciation of potted plants and the creation of bonsai plants, Mr. Nai Weng put forward the creative principle of "giving priority to cultivation, flexible combination of carving and cutting, and respecting the law of plant growth", which is to solve how to be beautiful. Where on earth is the beauty? Of these two questions. His four song tips are:

The posture is skillful and skillful, and the dragon clock is old and gloomy.

The foot is as big as the valley, who knows the endless rhyme in the basin.

It contains four bases of "potential, old, big and rhyme", in which "old" and "big" focus on the shape of potted plants, while "potential" and "rhyme" focus on verve.

When expounding the "potential", he pointed out that "potential" is the expression of the basic shape of the whole plant, including the whole outline from the base to the trunk and the top of the branch. When appreciating, the first thing you see is posture. Without posture, you lose the meaning of potted plants. There should be "four virtues" and "six taboos" ("potted skills" P9-P11). Learn from each other in the structure, center of gravity, movement, strength, shape and charm of potted plants.

Figure 1 potted "cliff dragon" sparrow plum cliff potted plant (70 cm long)

It is a bonsai work created by Nai Weng in the 1970s. The tree trunk emerges from the cliff, bends and hangs upside down, and the tail ends naturally and forcefully upward, which is in line with the law of plant growth. It is different from the style of artificially pulling down and letting it float down. The branches are soft and firm, not sparse, not dense, like a wandering dragon diving into the abyss, the situation is good. It is a tree that accords with the law of plant growth, and looks like a wandering dragon. The beauty is that it is a tree that looks like a wandering dragon.

With regard to the "old" of potted plants, Mr. Nai Weng should have the following forms according to his years of experience: root vines are raised, trunks are buckled and knotted, bark is thick, cracked or wrinkled and thick, branches are crooked, and the branches are pruned or withered and reborn year by year, and the branches and leaves are not too dense, because only young and robust plants can flourish. The banyan tree has drooping air roots at the top ("potted skills" P19-20).

As shown in figure 2, the banyan tree is planted in a vertical pot (46cm high).

The structure of the whole plant is tight, sparse and very harmonious. The combination of trunk thickness and height, tree height and side branch length are all very appropriate. It tilts slightly to the left, and the base is broad and extends to the left, front and back, so it is particularly balanced and stable. The side branch and the main branch also stretched out to the left and right before and after, with an air of looking around. The crown of the tree is uniform and uneven, forming a simple and dignified picture. The momentum is vigorous and strong, the old thick roots are high and exposed to the basin, and the bark is ancient and thick, either bulging or deeply sunken, and the leaves are not dense and sparse, which are hard-tempered, old and simple works. At first glance, it looks simple, but the more you look at it, the more you look at it. The tree is 150 years old, and the tree was cultivated in a basin from an early age. What is the beauty of this tree? Mr. Nai Weng deeply appreciated its morphological charm from the structure, density, root, stem, leaf and bark step by step, and painted the dragon to give it the title "read all the Spring in the World", which means a long and deep meaning.

With regard to the "big" of potted plants, it does not mean that it is tall and tall, but that although it is small, it also looks like big, that is, "the foot is as big as in the valley". It should be like a natural old tree, with the verve of mountains and forests. On the other hand, it is meaningless to be like a small tree. Although it is a small shrub and snow in June, it also wants it to have the verve of mountains, forests and big trees. No matter the height is only one foot, half a foot, or even trailing wood, it should be shaped to look like a large tree. Generally speaking, the upright is majestic and erect; or towering into the clouds, the tree is tall and shady to enjoy the cool; those who bend horizontally are like dragons and tigers, not like snakes and worms.

As shown in figure 3, the banyan tree is planted in a vertical pot (69cm high).

The composition of this tree is bold and bold, its momentum is tall and straight, and it does not reduce the tall ancient pine, which is like the sun of Fo Yun. There is a big crown at the top of the right, and a large stone on the lower left, which fits well up and down, while the right side is slightly dense in the middle, resulting in left and right care, balanced and natural. The big tree bowed over the stubborn stone, and there was unusual coordination between the tree and the stone. Embellished with the two old people talking and laughing on the rock, it enhanced a lot of love and interest, and formed a natural picture. Just as Yuan Li Shizhao painted the inscription "Yansong Picture": "if you ask about the situation, the spring breeze will be empty, the spring breeze and autumn moon will be lush, and the top will be Hua Gai, and you will be a dragon, and you will not follow Huang Gong of Qi Li Xia." Air roots are sagging and some are attached to tree trunks, all of which are generated naturally. What is more rare is that the root vines exposed to the soil extend to the left to enhance the stable posture, with the potential of "brushing the clouds and holding the sun". The tree is a hundred years old.

About verve, it resides in the body. Since the form is good, that is, the charm is overflowing, like the abundance of human beings. More specifically, those who are beautiful in potted plants are graceful, those with simple culture are chic and elegant, and those who are sturdy and upright are magnificent. Various postures of potted plants have their own charm, such as standing, towering into the clouds; qu vertical, such as dragon flying wind dance; cliff style with the thrill of torrent or the feeling of flowing water; horizontal style has the melody of Jiaolong playing in the water, these are its charm.

As shown in figure 4, "another world" Finch plum vertical pot (35 cm high)

The composition of this potted plant is very successful. the small potted noodles are like a wilderness, on a boulder far away and a little higher. The two old people play chess, the trees are big and shady, the sky is high and the ground is far away, and the scenery is quiet. Observing its theme "unique heaven and earth", he suddenly introduced people into Li Bai's poetic feeling of "asking what is perched in the blue mountains, laughing but not answering the heart, peach blossoms are gone; there is no heaven and earth on earth". This scene is indeed "another heaven and earth is not the world". The lines of the branches of potted plants are just and soft, vivid and natural, with a high degree of modeling skills is its rare place. The two accessory trunks set off the right front and left back of the trunk, forming only two crowns, interspersed with a small side branch, making the change even more ingenious. Although the tree is only a foot tall, it is quite old. This potted plant has the advantages of various aspects, outstanding performance of good charm. Full of charm, the composition of the whole basin is like a clean picture, and its tree is "shaken without wind".

Chinese traditional culture regards all things as divine, and its aesthetic activity is not the form of ornamental objects, but the spirit of meeting objects. Therefore, the main purpose of Chinese traditional aesthetics for aesthetic object is not to think about why its form is beautiful and what kind of beautiful attribute it has, but to discuss repeatedly between its form and spirit. Such as Li Bai's "Jingyue thought", there is bright moonlight in front of the bed, like a cold frost on the ground. I looked up at the bright moon in the sky and looked down and missed my hometown. " A vivid picture of homesickness on a moonlit night is drawn, which depicts the psychological activities of distant visitors who are homesick and looking at the moon, from "doubt" to "head up", from "head up" to "head down", which vividly reveals the inner activities of the poet. the moon is not a simple thing, but has rich connotations. But foreigners think that the poem is too simple, which is caused by aesthetic differences.

As shown in figure 5, "she has more rhymes than peach blossoms." Finch plum curved vertical potted plant (42 cm high)

The whole plant is light, lively and colorful, with a slim manner and a tendency to dance. Its backbone qu qu Tingting, from the bottom up, in one fell swoop. The side branches fully show the stiff and beautiful beauty of Finch plum. The shape is spicy and full of charm, and she has more rhymes than peach blossoms. The cracks in the trunk are open, and the base and two thick roots are high above the soil surface. The lower part of the whole plant is sparse and can walk, without any scenery, even more beautiful, just like flying immortals in the air. The tree is nearly a hundred years old and has a good charm.

The Chinese people's view of the universe is the integration of time and space, and art also pursues the artistic conception of "the image in the six-fold table, rising and falling beyond 04:00". In such art, the individual and nature, the feelings of the subject and the scenery of heaven and earth, the tracing of history and philosophical thinking are integrated.

As shown in figure 6, "the sky is high and cloudy". The horizontal pot of elm (29 cm high)

The tree has been robbed by fire, there are still fire marks, only two pieces of bark and a few rotten wood remain in the trunk, and the upper part is still alive after the robbery. Because the regenerated trunk happens to be oblique to the left, the center of gravity of the plant is balanced at the base of the left. The control of the lateral branches also extends in all directions, and the right side of the trunk is dotted with twigs to make it more dense. If he lies down and "looks up at the size of the universe", his artistic conception should be more than that.

How can potted plants be beautiful? Mr. Nai Weng wrote in his "potted skills": "potted plants are the fusion of naturally beautiful trees in the chest and pop up in the pot." ("potted skills" P56) obviously this has gone through the process of "the bamboo in the eye", "the bamboo in the chest" to "the bamboo in the hand" (Note 1), or the nature in the eyes and chest is different from the nature in the hand, but what he emphasizes is: "the tree of natural beauty", nature is beautiful. How can we realize "natural beauty"? In his plant bonsai creation, Mr. Nai Weng put forward the creative principle of "giving priority to cultivation, flexible combination of carving and cutting, and respecting the law of plant growth". This is completely consistent with the traditional Chinese aesthetic point of view. Laozi said: Tao is natural, and nature is Tao. The law reflected in "Tao" is to allow everything to be displayed freely. Following or imitating the law of "Tao", we should not be forced to do anything, but "let nature take its course" in order to show the endless world in front of people "naturally" in order to achieve the "Tian Chang Di Jiu (Eternal Dumpling)" of life. Although this kind of "nature" must be nurtured, carved and reproduced artistically, Mr. Nai Weng still emphasizes the need to "respect the law of plant growth,"more concern, less interference", and "according to the characteristics of all kinds of trees." shape different posture of potted plants "(" potted techniques "P55) is to naturally reproduce the natural beauty of potted plants. Nature means the most true, but also means the most beautiful.

As shown in figure 7, "ecstasy" crape myrtle oblique dry pot (50 cm high)

This plant has an air of air. The trunk is both rigid and soft, extremely natural, rarely processed, and is a beautiful natural tree. The oblique stem tilts upward to a certain extent, which is quite imposing. The two tree trunks are close to each other, and the deputy trunk is nestled in the arms of the trunk, like mother and son, which is a good posture for double oblique work. If we look at the tree from a purely viewing point of view, it is only two sloping branches, one big and one small, and what we appreciate is the natural posture of double oblique dry pots and snuggling up to each other. Beauty in posture is naturally the same as the charm of mother and son.

Beauty is produced by people's feelings about things, and it is the product of the blending of emotion and scenery. "so all the light of beauty comes from the source of the soul: there is no beauty without the mapping of the soul." (Zong baihua's "Aesthetic Walk") in the "narrative painting" of the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty, there are: "looking at the autumn clouds, God flying: Linchun breeze, thinking magnificent." Although there is the joy of gold and stone, how can it be done with bristles, even though there is the joy of gold and stone and the enrollment of the emperor? " This is the embodiment of the author's beautiful inner world in the painting, and it is the real interest of the painting. Therefore, the essence of Chinese traditional aesthetics is the appreciation of self-personality, and the direct purpose of art is to convey feelings.

As shown in figure 8, the banyan tree is planted in a vertical pot (69cm high)

"the clouds will stop, and the rain will be heavy." It is a poem written by Tao Qian to miss his relatives and friends. The crown of this potted tree is like the clouds in the sky, with dense clouds at the top and cloud feet at the bottom, so I quote Tao Qian's poem. Its base and root vine have been covered with basin, very old, natural but not grain, root and air root constitute the first and second sections of the trunk, air root and trunk constitute the third and fourth sections of the trunk, have been integrated, with the unique three beauty of the banyan tree (Note 2), is cultivated by Mr. Nai Weng in the basin since childhood, the trunk flexion forcefully before and after the left and right four directions, easily top the crown, appears to be stable and balanced. The density of the whole plant is just right. The bark is thick and cracked, which is more than a hundred years old, but it still has the spirit of longevity and health, and has advantages in all aspects. "stop the cloud" is the cloud that does not disperse, which implies the cohesion of Ruiyun. Nai Weng with "stop the cloud" for this potted plant title not only because it is similar to "stop the cloud", at the same time to express his feelings of relatives and friends, looking forward to friends and relatives to get together.

[note 1] see the second item of "three paintings on Banqiao": Jiangguan in early autumn, watching bamboo, smoke, sun shadow and fog in the morning, all floating among the dense leaves. Full of heart, then have the meaning of painting. In fact, the bamboo in the chest is not the bamboo in the eye. Therefore, to grind ink, to unfold paper, to put down a pen, and to put it in disguise, the bamboo in the hand is not the bamboo in the chest. In short, it is intended to write first, the rules are also. Those who are interested in the outside of the law are also interested in the machine. Painting Yun Wu alone!

[note 2] the "three beauties of the banyan tree", that is, the beauty of the air root, the beauty of the root vine and the beauty of the root cube, are unique to the banyan tree summed up by the predecessors in the process of long-term cultivation practice. The air root is as elegant as the long whisker of an old man, indicating its old age; the root vine is crisscross like a dragon, showing its vitality; and the root tuber is plump and lovely as a goose egg, indicating its expensive. But the three beauties must be unified and harmonious, otherwise they may be grotesque. For details, see Nai Weng's "on the three Beauties of Banyan Tree".

Second, the aesthetic thought in Nai Weng landscape bonsai.

As for the landscape bonsai, Mr. Nai Weng believes that the creation of landscape bonsai must achieve the effect of making fake bonsai into reality, although fake landscapes should be made by human beings, and only through the refinement and ingenious techniques of bonsai, creating bonsai with poetry and painting charm and artistic conception is a successful work. He summed up the aesthetic standards of landscape bonsai as "living, clear, divine, and meaningful", and described them with four songs:

Live as true as green mountains and green waters

There are three or two people in the cottage.

Amazing craftsmanship and charm.

Poetic and picturesque Qimin.

Among the four words, the words "living" and "Qing" are concrete, both of which are shown in the form of bonsai, which can be seen and touched, while the words "God" and "meaning" are imagery, invisible and invisible. But they are a whole, interdependent and inseparable, and together serve as the basis for aesthetic judgment of landscape bonsai. Among them, "living", "God" and "will" are the main ones. In modern times, more and more artists realize the important value of artistic conception, and people should give priority and consideration to aesthetic judgment. Since it was active in the author's artistic imagination, each landscape bonsai is a fetus about to be born. it's a tangible, divine and intentional work. Mr. Nai Weng elaborated on the words "living", "Qing", "God" and "meaning" one by one as follows.

"living" is the objective truth of aesthetics, which is what we usually call vivid and lifelike. In popular language, the fake landscape looks real. Whether it is a natural landscape or a cultural landscape, they should show their own rationality, and the more profound the performance, the better. It is neither a mechanical microcosm of photography nor a castle in the air. The "living" of landscape bonsai should be reasonable in four aspects, namely, reasonable geology and geomorphology, reasonable proportion and dynamics of characters, reasonable coordination between human landscape and natural landscape, and reasonable theme of scenery performance. He made a clear exposition on the shaping methods of pavilions and pavilions, river and lake boats, main peaks and secondary peaks, road and bridge caves, spring falls and streams, as well as the general features and matters needing attention of all kinds of mountain shapes.

For example, the bonsai of "neighbor Weng fighting chess in the morning" (see figure 9), the theme is selected from the poem of Tang Ziwei's painting in the Mustard Garden: "the willow is overcast and the summer is late, and the high pavilion on the edge of the village is full of Pingchi. The neighbor took advantage of the early morning to decide whether to win or lose yesterday's chess. " Bonsai uses Saddam Hussein corals with good water absorption to shape the karst landscapes and landscapes on the bank of the middle reaches of the Lijiang River in Guangxi; a low mountain is the main body, accounting for most of the bonsai space. Although the mountain is not high, it is a beautiful mountain shape with a clear distinction between the front and rear, and the sheep intestines path covered by green grass runs through it with twists and turns, and the bridge crosses the Piedmont stream. The mountain is covered with lush trees, the ground is green, and the limestone under the mountain was pierced by water in ancient times, and a picture of the landscape on the bank of the Lijiang River in summer sprang up; three or two houses in the mountains, the size of the front and rear is scattered, the morning light is clear, the air is fresh, the sound is silent, and the scenery is particularly quiet; the neighbor of the left house is in the high part of the mountain, and the people in front of the mountain are in the low part of the mountain, where the sun is brighter, and the lower part is not fully bright, setting off the early morning scene. The house in front of the mountain is also built on the edge of the mountain (read han, that is, the cliff on the side of the mountain, where people can live). This is the place where the ancients chose to build houses, and it is also the author's meticulous layout. The old man in front of the mountain sat waiting and meditated on yesterday's undecided move. Weng Kui, a neighbor on the left side of the mountain, came with a staff bridge and was in high spirits. In addition, there was only one stone on the waterfront, and there was no boat to further demonstrate the quiet realm of "the door without chariots and horses." These profound and meticulous layouts deepen the landscape art and overflow the spirit of the scenery.

There are three elements in Qing Dynasty. One is refinement. The same theme can highlight the main scene with the most concise composition, show the secondary scene, cut down the complexity, and the scenery can show clear, fresh, rich sense of the times, showing the ability of refinement. The second is seclusion. "the birth of the artistic mind is at the moment of selflessness in life." aesthetically, it is called "meditation", watching everything as if it is in the mirror, bright and clean, and each is in its place, that is, the so-called meditation of all things. Only at this time can you pay attention to the realistic image you want to reflect and the emotion of life you want to express. Using Liu Zongyuan's poem "Jiang Xue" as an analogy, "the silent birds in the mountains are gone, and there are already few people on ten thousand paths. The fisherman on the boat, wearing a coir coat and fighting a hat, is fishing on the river alone in the cold." it is silent, but it seems to be audible of birds and flowers. Only with a mind as quiet as still water and slightly free of paranoia can we understand all kinds of situations in the world. This is the refinement and serenity that the scene is intended to achieve. The third is emptiness. The expression of infinite heaven and earth with limited space, "silence leads to mass movement, emptiness is filled with ten thousand worlds" (Su Dongpo), the immersion of all worlds into people's mind is the time when beauty is born.

The art form has three functions: one is to create a detached image through spacing and distance, to activate the imagination, to open the distance between man and reality, and to produce an aesthetic distance beyond utilitarian calculation; the second is to turn the real image into an illusory image. the composition and image make life spatialized and typified to express the artistic conception in the heart; the third is to introduce the spirit into the leap of spirit, into the beautiful realm, and further from beauty to truth. In other words, the cultivation of aesthetic sense should first of all be good at creating distance between objects and images, so that they do not stick to things without stagnation, so that objects can be isolated and isolated and form their own realm. The garden with winding paths, the mountains and rivers in the clouds and the lights in the night are all beautiful scenery born under the condition of distance and interval.

In addition to the "separation" caused by external conditions, what is more important is the "emptiness" within the mind. Spiritual indifference is the basic condition for the spiritualization of art. For example, the bonsai "Mustard seed Nasumi" (see figure 10) only arranges one person for one tree, one stone and one pavilion. The tree creates three or two crowns with freehand brushwork, which changes greatly. The trunk of the lower half and the upper part of the tree makes a great turning point. The structure is otherworldly, complacent and unforced. There is a pavilion in the distance and someone nearby, planting a stone to accompany the oblique banyan, forming a picture of the distance and height in the space of the 20cm. The proper proportion makes the tree look unusually tall, and the title "Mustard seed Nasumi" makes people feel more ethereal and Zen. The bonsai "Mustard seed Nasumi" expresses Nai Weng's ideological realm of detachment from himself: mustard seed can accept Sumi, empty consciousness, and can accommodate thousands of worlds.

"God" is the soul of the scenery, latent in the image. Shape is concrete and God is abstract, but God can also make people perceive. It is the expression of the artist's artistic depth, but it depends on the viewer's sensory ability. Such as verve, that is, the spirit and charm of the wind, such as mountains with aura and spirit; such as broad water stones, clear and deep peaks, and lush trees; and like the spirit of the elderly in bonsai, while the color of young people is clear, which is the expression of God. Mr. Nai Weng believes that "God" is produced by the highly realistic scenery in bonsai.

When the creative skills of the authors of bonsai reach a profound height, the scenery is miraculous, and the works make people feel strongly charming and fascinating at a glance, making people have a sense of appreciation, travel and residence, and produce a deep realm of reverie. For example, Mr. Nai Weng created the bonsai "Lion Rock" of Xiamen landscape (figure 11). In the basin, the main peak of Lion Rock is carved out of coral stone, and a smaller piece of coral stone represents Taiwu Mountain across the sea. People in Xiamen often have the habit of getting up early to climb the mountain. An old man in the basin winds his way up the mountain road from the foot of the mountain. Here, the morning fog is wrapped around, the valley is quiet, the scenery is charming, the mountain forest is dense, rocky, climbing the mountain peak, and there are poems everywhere, the sound of birds singing, and looking out, you can see that "remote trees come out layer by layer, and light sails are hanging." The poem said: "Lian Chao night fog lock rugged, the road is the lion mountain is not true, fragrant grass smoke deeply fascinated stone stele, partridge sunrise call pedestrians." Ups and downs, a variety of forms, set the spirit of mountains and rivers, trees and stones, the beauty of life stele in the pavilion, it is actually a fairyland on earth. Landscape bonsai "Lion Rock" exquisite composition, in the bonsai to build roads, houses and placement of climbers, the shape of the real scene, people have the desire to climb the mountain, artistic charm arises spontaneously.

"meaning" refers to the artistic conception, which is a kind of artistic realm formed by the fusion of the picture of life described by bonsai and the thoughts and feelings expressed by bonsai. The former is the scene created by the author according to the intention, which is tangible, while the latter is the theme to be expressed in landscape creation. Therefore, the artistic conception is the crystallization of "emotion" and "scene" (image), which can peep into the deepest soul of oneself, turn the real scene into a virtual realm, and create an image as a symbol. This is the realm of art.

The artistic conception of art varies from person to person, from place to place and from scene to scene. One of Tao Yuanming's "drinking" poem: "Jielu is in the human world, but there are no chariots and horses." Ask you how can you, far-sighted from the side. I pick fenceside asters at will, carefree I see the southern hill. The mountain air is good day and night, and the birds return. There is a true meaning in this, but I have forgotten to say it if I want to distinguish it. " "Jielu in the human environment" is "the earth is far away", and "self-distance" is the distance within the soul. Only Tao Yuanming, who is "far away from his own mind", can inadvertently see Nanshan and realize that "there is a true meaning in it, and he has forgotten to speak if he wants to distinguish it." The artistic realm is close to "true meaning" from "far away from the heart".

Artistic conception is not a single-level feeling, but a multi-level one. In the appreciation of his freehand bonsai "another World" (see figure 12), Mr. Nai Weng wrote: a single piece of Yingde stone naturally forms a fairyland-like small world, with a low mountain and winding mountain in front, with lush trees in the middle, a small farmland in the lower part, a pavilion in the upper part, a pavilion halfway up to the mountain and a cabin, among which there are people, and the hut can reach the mountain peak after the cabin (this is a beautiful visual view). Then he wrote: there seems to be a lower mountain behind it, and on the right side of the island, bridging from the corner of the second island, there are approaching fairies who are about to visit the island (this is the second scene to convey active life). After the island, the sea is open, and there are boats in the distance, as if there are immortals traveling (this is the third scene from the mind's imagination). Mr. Nai Weng explained: many years ago, I acquired this natural and perfect Yingde stone in Xiamen. In an in-depth study of the history of bonsai development, I learned that the earliest bonsai was imitated and sketched in the face of Penglai Xian Island in the garden, so I created "another World."

Since its birth, Chinese landscape bonsai has been permeated with the interest of poetry and the artistic conception of painting, and the art of landscape bonsai has grown up in the process of poetic nurturing. While describing the life picture of bonsai, the author uses the author's endowment sentiment and poetry and painting accomplishment to integrate into the bonsai, which is contained in the body of the work. The title of bonsai "another World" comes from Li Bai's poem "questions and answers in the Mountains":

"I asked me what I meant to live in the green mountains, laughing but not answering my mind. When the peach blossoms flow away, there is no other heaven and earth. " The poem describes the scenery of peach blossoms passing away with the stream. Generally speaking, we think of the sadness of "falling flowers and flowing spring goes away", but from the poet's feelings of "laughter", we can realize that the "heaven and earth" in this Bishan is full of natural and tranquil beauty, which is incomparable to the "world"!

By appreciating Nai Weng's bonsai works, we can realize that no matter it is plant bonsai or landscape bonsai, whether it is form or spirit, it is full of poetic painting everywhere, placing the feelings and minds of the elderly. His other work, "listening to the Spring" (see figure 13): a flowing spring on the left mountain twists and turns and falls into the grottoes, and then turns and hits the side of the stream and splashes around, showing a vivid form of mountain spring flow. There is a hut on the left side of the cave, where someone sits and listens; an old man sits leisurely towards the mountain, enjoying the landscape and the wonderful sound of the spring; there is no boat in the stream, it is like living in a deep mountain paradise, everything is silent, except for the sound of the spring. The poem said: "Renzhi Le landscape, the old neighbor knows this sound, Qingquan stone rhyme, wash the hearts of the world." It can be described as a continuous sense of Zen. It can be seen that the above artistic conception varies from person to place and from scene to scene, which must be understood by people.

The bonsai art of China, which came from ancient times, stands at the turning point in the history of modern China. Western culture and art have been continuously imported into China, and Chinese culture and art have been tested unprecedentedly. In order to preserve and carry forward the old culture and art, we must first give a new evaluation to our old culture and art, preserve its essence and discard its dross, and absorb the excellent side of western art at the same time.

There is a motto on the temple of wisdom in Delphi: "know yourself"! In order to change the world, you must first know yourself. When comparing Chinese and Western painting methods, Mr. Nai Weng learned that Chinese painters do not focus on a focus of perspective from a fixed angle, but grasp the whole from a high point of view, and have special names such as lofty method, flat method and deep method, forming the characteristics of "viewing the small by the big" in Chinese landscape painting, while Western painters must depict spatial illusions and use perspective from a fixed angle, and have a complete system. Talking about "artistic conception" with Western painters is the same as talking about "perspective principles" with Chinese painters. There is such a difference between Chinese and Western aesthetic methods.

When discussing the techniques of bonsai creation, Mr. Nai Weng found that many people mentioned that Guo Xi's theory of "Sanyuan" in landscape painting is not applicable to bonsai. The "Sanyuan method" puts forward that "if the mountain wants to be high, when it comes out, it is not high, and the haze lock its waist is high." If the water wants to be far away, it is not far if it is out, and it is far from covering up its flow. The haze locks its waist and the mountain is high, while it covers off its flow and the water is far away. However, the "clear color", "heavy color" and "cloud and smoke" here are difficult to express in landscape bonsai, which are obviously only suitable for painting. However, as soon as such a long paragraph is shrunk, it becomes "Sanyuan", which is mechanically applied to bonsai creation, which really makes it difficult for readers to understand. If you can understand one by one from Sanyuan, then "Gaoyuan" means "one peak, that is, Taiyue thousand fathom". However, when making bonsai landscapes, there are main peaks and non-main peaks, peaks, low peaks, big peaks and small peaks, big rocks and even small rocks, all pursue lofty, will it not be a mistake to the children? Landscape painting is a piece of flat paper, and the close vision, ten layers and eight layers can be distributed in the lower and high places, and then express it in a light and dark style. The landscape bonsai is a bonsai with stone, water and physical objects. From the front of the basin to the rear of the basin, it is far from full of feet. Since it is impossible to show ten layers and eight layers, how can two kinds of works of art of different nature be completely molded by a technical theory? For example, before and after the overlap of landscape painting, you can use ethereal clouds and mist to cover up the hillside, making people feel that the mountains are high and unfathomable, majestic and ever-changing. While bonsai can only stretch to the left and right; for example, landscape painting can use the edges to show half of the mountains, to show that the mountains stretch, while bonsai must be complete and boundless. Therefore, landscape bonsai should have its own theory not only in aesthetics, but also in shaping techniques. If "far-reaching" and "Pingyuan" are applied to bonsai, it is the "depth" of the landscape, that is, "far and near". Enhance the three-dimensional sense. This seems to be more clear, there is no need to apply the theory of painting.

In 1985, when Mr. Nai Weng wrote the article "Xiamen Bonsai style", when he commented on the appreciation basis of plant bonsai in his "potted skills", he changed the original "potential, old, thin, big, difficult, rhyme" to "potential, old, big, rhyme" to remove the 'thin' and 'difficult' that may cause unhealthy factors of bonsai, so that bonsai can better reflect the spirit of the times. When the Chinese Bonsai artists Association was established in 1988, Mr. Nai Weng first proposed that the life of art lies in innovation, and continuous innovation is the sacred mission of Chinese bonsai artists. In 1992, he proposed that aesthetics is the driving force of innovation, innovation needs the improvement of aesthetic ability, give full play to one's own wisdom and come up with innovative technology. Modern is the era of science and depends on scientific innovation. It is also clearly put forward that the innovation of bonsai art includes: the innovation of cultivation methods, the innovation of techniques, the diversification of artistic modeling, the creation of landscape bonsai to break the traditional imitation of traditional Chinese painting, mainly sketching, the performance of famous mountains and rivers, and so on.

It can be seen from Nai Weng's bonsai works and papers that Nai Weng has made great efforts to inherit and carry forward Chinese bonsai art and bonsai aesthetics, as well as to promote bonsai aesthetics from classical to modern. The old man has left us! But his contribution to the development of bonsai art in China: his correct aesthetics as the forerunner of bonsai art creation; his creative skills of melting north and south into a furnace will always be engraved in the history of the development of Chinese bonsai art! His artistic dedication and innovative ideas are examples for us to learn from. We must inherit the legacy of Mr. Nai Weng and continue to carry it forward.

Fu Quan

At the North Village of Xiamen University on February 22, 2018

(this article is originally written by Mr. Fu Quan, selected from Mr. Fu Quan's blog, and the copyright belongs to Mr. Fu Quan.)

Brief introduction of the author:

Fu Quan, formerly known as Fu Zixiong, the second board president of Xiamen Bonsai Flower Association (1998-2008), edited and published the monograph Xiamen Bonsai. Ye Fei, vice chairman of the National people's Congress, wrote the title of the book; presided over the "Nai Weng Bonsai and Garden Art Seminar" jointly held with Fujian Forestry Department and Bonsai Magazine on May 26, 2001; published "Nai Weng Bonsai Art" VCD in January 2002 The 20th anniversary activities of Xiamen-China Bonsai Art Seminar and Xiamen Bonsai Art Exhibition 2005 were successfully held in 2005, and edited and published Nai Weng Bonsai Art Research, Xiamen Bonsai 20 years and unforgettable this Autumn.

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