Nanshan Lu: meet bonsai and continue to walk hand in hand for 20 years

Meet bonsai for 20 years, continue to walk hand in hand!

Photo, text | Nanshanlu

I pick fenceside asters at will, carefree I see the southern hill.

The first @ Nanshanlu beautiful piece

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How time flies. It has been twenty years since I met bonsai this spring.

Meeting bonsai is a fate and a love affair. It is proud that this love object is very good-looking and has been known as "three-dimensional painting and wordless poetry" since ancient times. Almost all the people who like her are literati.

The first time I saw bonsai was 20 years ago, at the door of my colleague's dormitory in Old Xu and Old District. The bonsai they saw at that time were only the piles dug up by Lao Xu from the mountains. When I first saw this bare tree stump, there was nothing to see. Some of the stumps were not well planted and would die. I laughed at them: after so much effort, there was only a pile of firewood left. Later, I saw that the living potted plants became more and more beautiful in Lao Xu's hands, and gradually became more interesting. Later, on weekends, I followed them to the mountains and officially held hands with bonsai.

When I first made bonsai, I didn't know how to do it. When the harvest is back, we often have to invite some seniors to come and have a look. Ask the seniors to help cut the branches and leave them dry, so as to remove excess branches and roots. Cultivate soil and water under the guidance of seniors. In order to avoid excessive light, but also learn to build a shed for shade, spray with water spray to protect moisture. When the stump has sprouted and grown branches, we should also learn to remove the useless shoots. When the branches and leaves grow steadily, we should also learn to fertilize and get rid of insects. Different varieties, have different lighting requirements, different water needs, but also slowly to get familiar with, to understand, to learn. Watching the stump gradually survive and grow healthily under its own care, slowly, I fell in love with it.

When the stump was stable and the branches were exuberant, they began to learn to prune. It is not easy to trim bonsai. As the saying goes, "it is easy to judge the statue, but it is difficult to carve the idol." this saying can't be more aptly used in pruning bonsai. Anyone can evaluate bonsai works, but if you are really asked to take a pair of scissors to trim, you will often have no way to start. Some potted friends have been working on bonsai for more than ten years, but they still dare not prune them. Dare not start, there is no way to start, because bonsai is a comprehensive, coherent, pay attention to the art of years. From pile material to shaping, a bonsai is often pruned more than a dozen times, or even dozens of times. Each cut, not only to consider the current shape, but also to consider the future shape; not only to consider the beauty of the tree, the creation of artistic conception, but also consider the germination of bud points, consider the impact on the growth of trees. Wu Zhaoqi, a famous calligrapher and former chairman of the Chinese people's political Consultative Conference in Maoming, once said: bonsai is the most comprehensive, knowledgeable and time-consuming art. We not only need to know the knowledge of planting and breeding, but also need to have the aesthetic ability of painters, the literary literacy of writers and an ordinary heart that can stand loneliness.

From learning pruning to daring to cut it myself, I have experienced four or five years. During these four or five years, I was lucky to get a lot of guidance from my elders of bonsai. The one who helped me the most was teacher Zeng Wenhai. Teacher Zeng played bonsai more than ten years earlier than I did. He devoted himself to research and had excellent pruning skills, but he was humble and never regarded skill as superior. As long as you ask him for advice, you will always give careful guidance. Under his guidance and encouragement, I slowly mastered some basic techniques of pruning.

Dare to cut it by yourself, and the process of pruning becomes a kind of enjoyment. On the weekend, a pot of tea, a guqin, a pair of scissors, a bonsai, you can enjoy the morning. Beautiful bonsai is often reluctant to be achieved overnight, watch it over and over again, and cut it slowly. Not in one morning, one day. If you can't do it one day, just enjoy it for a few more days. After pruning, I looked at the bonsai foolishly as soon as I was free. This kind of feeling is really like a passionate love.

The stump is in shape, so it is not a complete work. It still needs to be put on the basin and named. The size, color and shape of the pot should be selected according to the height, size and shape of the stump. Naming not only considers the shape and artistic conception of the tree, but also tests the author's life experience and literary accomplishment. Proper pots can better show the charm of the tree. Proper naming can awaken the soul of the work.

Some bonsai works, in different seasons, in different stages of tree growth, will cause different feelings or associations, but also can name several different names. One of my works of Finch Plum blown by the Wind has several names. In early spring, when a few new greens sprouted on the wind-blown tips, I thought of Jiangnan, Wang Anshi, "the spring breeze blew green the banks thousands of miles south of the Yangtze River, and asked the bright moon when I could return home again." so, I gave orders for it, "the spring breeze blows the banks thousands of miles south of the Yangtze River." At the turn of summer and autumn, the trees were "windy" and clouds were flying in front of the court. I thought of Liu Bang, who returned home and saved his relatives, and thought of "the wind is blowing and the clouds are flying."... " So I named it "Gale Rises". In winter, the north wind is blowing and the trees are bleak. I think of Yishui, Jing Ke, and "the wind is rustling, the water is cold, and the strong man is gone."... " As a result, I ordered the wind to be rustling again.

Bonsai cut well, the name is good, each work is a three-dimensional painting, a speechless poem. One of my Finch plum works, the trunk is old, the branches and leaves are whirling, the water basin is dry, and the stone on the right is left blank, creating a waterfront scenery. There is a pair of old people who drink by the bank, named "used to watching the autumn moon and spring breeze". The picture of the work is beautiful and three-dimensional, and the artistic conception of "white-haired fishing firewood Jiangzhu, used to watching the autumn moon and spring breeze" is concentrated on the basin, enjoying the natural breeding of "how many things in ancient and modern times, pay magnanimous feelings in laughter".

My other Lugen mountain pine work, the root is strong and old, the skin and scales are strange, and the crown is free and easy, such as a literati who is used to wind and rain and sees through life. He often thinks of Su Dongpo in "set the Storm", "Don't listen to the sound of bamboo beating rain, why not sing and walk slowly". Therefore, it is named "a misty rain in one's life". When the mood is low, look at this work, the mood is suddenly open-minded and cheerful.

Once the bonsai takes shape and has a name, I often invite her into the room. Or placed in the hall, or placed in the study, teahouse. As soon as I have free time, I will stay with her and look at her like a newlywed. At this time, with bonsai, it is no longer passionate love, but entered the stage of companionship.

It's just that bonsai enters the house and is often difficult to maintain. In recent years, one or two works have died almost every year. It is always very uncomfortable to watch the works that have been maintained and produced for several years or even more than ten years die. One of the earliest bonsai works to die is a Jiuli incense plant that has been planted and cultivated for several years. I remember those days, watching the branches and leaves withering one by one, my heart blocked badly, I couldn't sleep well, and I couldn't eat well. In the end, I didn't even dare to face the death of the trees. After a few days, I couldn't stand it. I told my family to take it outside quietly to dispose of it when I was not at home. I collected the first plant from the mountain and made the Shuanggan mountain orange bonsai, which was given to a classmate. The next year, my classmates told me that I didn't know how to maintain and died. I was sad for several more days when I heard the news. From then on, my bonsai is no longer easily given away.

Among the dead bonsai, what I regret most is a mountain orange work called "Shangshan as Water". The pile material of the work is not good, one big and one small, and the lines are not beautiful. Later, under the guidance of teacher Zeng Wenhai, it was unified as a hanging branch. After several times of pruning, the effect is surprisingly good, with the smell of an exception-one big and one small "tough guys" bow their heads at the top, tender as water. So he named it "Shangshan as water". After the work has taken shape, he has participated in several exhibitions. In 2011, at the Qingyuan International Stone Bonsai Exhibition, someone paid a high price for it, but it was not sold because of love. In 2012, participated in Dianbai County Bonsai Strange Stone Exhibition, entered the room for too long, the scene staff improper nursing, came back a few days later withered. The death of my favorite bonsai should have been very sad, but before that, I had experienced too many bonsai deaths and was relieved. In fact, the encounter with bonsai, like people in general, is a fate, that is, we meet each other, and the fate has just dispersed. However, since then, all the dead bonsai works, I have carefully collected the photos, wrote some words, put them in the circle of friends or beautiful articles, and left them as a good memory.

Meet bonsai for 20 years, bonsai is not only a good-looking lover, but also a good friend and teacher. "those who are close to red are red, and those who are close to ink are black." Before meeting bonsai, I always like to play cards and mahjong in my spare time. After playing, I get nothing but kill time. After meeting the bonsai, in order to grow the bonsai, in order to trim the bonsai beautifully, I always urge myself to study constantly, to delve into it, and to consult my predecessors and peers. Most of the people in the same way are literati who have not only learned the knowledge of planting and cultivation, mastered the skills of pruning, but also improved their aesthetic ability, cultural literacy, and their own taste and connotation.

Before I met the bonsai, my mental state was anxious for a time because of the pressure of work and family, which had seriously affected my work and life. Although I saw the doctor and took medicine, the situation improved, but the shadow in my heart could not be eradicated. After meeting bonsai, I always make friends with bonsai in my free time. Or go to the mountains to dig, or trim and maintain at home, no longer in the mood to think about those annoying things. Not only the shadow of the mind, but also the mental anxiety has been completely eradicated, and the physical condition is much better than before.

To trim the bonsai, cut off some extra branches. Which branch to cut and which skill to keep often needs to be considered over and over again. At first, I always cut it carefully, bit by bit. There are often many branches left behind. With the continuous pruning, repeated examination, the continuous improvement of aesthetic ability, the courage of cutting is getting bigger and bigger, and the choice of skill is becoming more and more straightforward, calm and calm. The branches are often cut less and less, but the trees are cut more easily and bigger. Therefore, in the process of pruning, I realize some truth: if there are more things, they will be cumbersome and cumbersome; if they are less, they will be just good, and we can see the whole through a small part. From the main road to Jane, where there is a loss, there is a gain, such as cutting bonsai, and so is life. Dare to give up, know how to give up, life will be easy and free and easy, live their own wonderful. Bonsai is actually a good teacher. From it, I learned how to choose.

Falling in love with bonsai makes me understand beauty and ugliness, and make friends with bonsai make me understand elegance and vulgarity and harvest health. Bonsai as a teacher, let me know how to give up, learn to choose. I have gained a lot from meeting bonsai for 20 years. Be grateful to meet and continue to walk hand in hand for the rest of my life.

[feelings of bonsai people]

Text | Xiamen, Fujian @ Zhou Yingzhi

Once a person asked me what you like best. I said I like watches and the time on watches, because in this world, only time will not deceive people, only time can prove everything, what is true, what is false, look at people, don't look with your eyes, easy to walk away, and don't listen with your ears, because it's all lies, as long as you use your time and heart to feel it, it can't be real or fake, and it can't be fake either! So what I like most is time: time will leave the most real people.

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