A brief introduction to the Su School, the Chinese School of Bonsai

Suzhou, which has a history of 2500 years, is located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, on the shore of Taihu Lake, with continuous hills, dense rivers, humid climate and abundant rainfall, which is suitable for plant breeding and growth. it provides extremely favorable regional environment and natural conditions for the development of tree stump bonsai.

Suzhou is not only a unique water city, but also a garden city with the great achievements of oriental garden architecture. since ancient times, Suzhou has enjoyed the reputation of "Jiangnan gardens are the first in the world and Suzhou gardens are in the south of the Yangtze River". Suzhou urban waterways are vertical and horizontal, with bridges crisscrossing. In the past, there were nearly 100 kilometers of waterways, but now there are 40 kilometers. In the past, there were 325 bridges, but now more than 100 are still preserved. Du Gouhe, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, sent his friend to visit Wu and wrote: "I will see you in Gusu, and they will do their best to rest on the river." There is little free land in the left palace, and there are many water bridges in the alley. The night market appreciates the lotus root, and the spring boat carries the achievements. Knowing the sleepless moon, homesickness is in the fishing song. " From it, we can see the style and features of Suzhou at that time. Suzhou dialect, which is conceived from this regional environment, has soft pronunciation and three changes in one language, so it is called "Wu Yi soft language". (it is different from Zhu Wenchang's "Qin History" that "Shu is impatient, if the waves rush to thunder".)

There were more than 220 gardens (and gardens) in Suzhou, which have gone through the flames of war. up to now, more than 60 have been preserved, and 20 to 30 are open. The gardens of Suzhou are different from those of the rich gentry in other cities, not only have a long history, but also mostly from the hands of literary celebrities at that time, thus reflecting a high degree of artistic accomplishment and strong humanistic spirit. For example, the Humble Administration Garden was originally built by the imperial king Xianchen of the Ming Dynasty after abandoning officials and returning to his hometown. its site was once the former residence of Lu Luwang, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, with a quiet environment and indifferent to nature. The remaining garden, which stands out in the architectural layout, was the private garden of Xu Tai, a servant of the Ming Dynasty, and then returned to the government of the Qing Dynasty so that Liu Rongfeng was renovated into "Hanbi Villa", with a cold bamboo color and clear waves. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the pool pavilion "Canglang Pavilion" of Qian Yuan Liao, king of Wu Yue Guangling, came to the north to buy it for the poet Su Shunqing, and later became the residence of Han Shizhong, a famous anti-Jin general in the Southern Song Dynasty, so it was called Hanyuan, Xiishui, Qingyou and ancient. And so on, it can be said that every garden has a "fate" with literary celebrities. Garden art and bonsai art are already "twin sisters". The high achievement of Suzhou landscape architecture is bound to have a direct and significant impact on the formation and development of Suzhou bonsai, especially the creators of these gardens. Many of them are bonsai lovers and producers.

Suzhou is not only a commercial city, but also a cultural city, with a large number of cultural relics, high quality and great reputation, which are rare in the country. Since the early Tang Dynasty, Suzhou has been the center of cultural activities in the south of the Yangtze River, and it is famous for its poetry, calligraphy and painting. There were Lu Xun in the three Kingdoms period, Lu Ji and Lu Yun in the Jin Dynasty, Wei Yingwu, Bai Juyi and Liu Yuxi in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, Lu Guimeng and Pi Rixiu in the late Tang Dynasty, and more literary celebrities from Suzhou after the Song and Yuan dynasties. In particular, the "Wumen painting School" in the Ming Dynasty, dominated by Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, Tang Yin and Qiu Ying, had a more far-reaching impact on the artistic style of Suzhou bonsai. From the Chronicles of long things written by Wen Zhenheng, a native of Suzhou, we can see that the bonsai stump in Suzhou at that time had already imitated the painting meaning of famous painters and the poetic feelings of famous poets, pursuing the artistic realm of "Gusu Zhi" such as "Yunlin Mountain painting": "Huqiu people are good at planting strange flowers and plants in poverty, Pansong ancient plum, buy several cases, elegant and lovely, called bonsai." Zhou Lianjuan, a famous modern writer and horticulturist in Suzhou, once pointed out. "my potted plant. On the one hand, it comes from the original creation, on the other hand, it is done according to the famous paintings of the ancients. He has successively made "Banana Stone Picture" by Tang Yin, "Crane listening Qin Picture" by Shen Shitian, "Bamboo interest Picture" and "half window Qingcui Map" by Xia Zhongzhao, and "Xinpu Shou Stone Picture" by King Yanrong of the Qing Dynasty. " Shen Shitian is Shen Zhou, and Wang Yanrong is Wang Yuanqi, one of the "six masters" of painting in the early Qing Dynasty.)

Su style tree stump bonsai can be divided into two categories: rules (that is, the law of Sichuan School) and nature. The main form of the traditional rule class is called "six sets, three supports and one top". The trunk is divided into six bends, leaving one side branch in each bend, and three branches in the left, right and back directions are tied into nine round branches. the left and right symmetrical 6 pieces are "six sets", and the back 3 pieces are "three supports", and then tie into a large branch at the top of the tree, that is, "one top", which is interesting and indistinct. When Chen Fang, the two pots are generally symmetrical, meaning "perfect", so they are very popular with dignitaries, rich businessmen and gentry; ordinary people are also very welcome, looking for good luck, and enjoying both elegance and popularity.

With the advance of the times, in the 1940s, under the bold innovation of the bonsai artists represented by Zhu Zi'an, the natural category which coexisted with the regular class got rid of the shackles of the traditional form and adopted the technique of "rough binding and fine cutting". Rapid prototyping, giving Su School bonsai a new spirit of the times. The so-called "coarse binding and fine shearing" is based on scissors, supplemented by pruning, using brown silk to tie the branches into two-and-a-half S-shaped sheets that are flat and slightly tilted, and later trimmed into an oval with scissors, slightly raised in the middle, keeping its natural shape as far as possible, shaped like clouds, and in accordance with the growth habits of trees, the "top" of each stump is no longer upward, but extends to the side branches to make it more plump and beautiful. The position of "top" varies from pile to pile and from situation to situation, in order to achieve the artistic effect of concise composition and far-reaching artistic conception, which has become the main feature of the bonsai art style of the contemporary Soviet School. Known as the king of bonsai in Jiangsu Province, the 500-year-old Rhyme of Qin and Han dynasties (Yuanbai), Yunfeng Xiawei (Da Tuosong) and Sheng Shi Ming (Finch Plum) can be regarded as the typical representative works of this school, and they are also treasures handed down from generation to generation in the bonsai art garden all over the country.

Tree stump bonsai commonly used tree species are pine, cypress, sparrow plum, hammer elm, yellow poplar, triangle maple, pomegranate, birds do not stay and so on.

Su School bonsai landscape bonsai is also quite a lot of ancient painting, full of strong poetry, simple layout, rigorous rules, vividly reproduce the scenery of the south of the Yangtze River. The commonly used stones are axe split stone, Kunshan white stone, Taihu stone, quartz stone and so on. Since the reform and opening up, with more and more exchanges between various factions, other stone varieties have been introduced.

Chinese Bonsai School-- Su School Bonsai

Suzhou, which has a history of 2500 years, is located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, on the shore of Taihu Lake, with continuous hills, dense rivers, humid climate and abundant rainfall, which is suitable for plant reproduction and growth, and provides extremely favorable regional environment and natural conditions for the development of tree stump bonsai. Suzhou is not only a unique water city, but also a garden city with the great achievements of oriental garden architecture. since ancient times, Suzhou has enjoyed the reputation of "Jiangnan gardens are the first in the world and Suzhou gardens are in the south of the Yangtze River". Suzhou urban waterways are vertical and horizontal, with bridges crisscrossing. In the past, there were nearly 100 kilometers of waterways, but now there are 40 kilometers. In the past, there were 325 bridges, but now more than 100 are still preserved. Du Gouhe, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, sent his friend to visit Wu and wrote: "I will see you in Gusu, and they will do their best to rest on the river." There is little free land in the left palace, and there are many water bridges in the alley. The night market appreciates the lotus root, and the spring boat carries the achievements. Knowing the sleepless moon, homesickness is in the fishing song. " From it, we can see the style and features of Suzhou at that time. Suzhou dialect, which is conceived from this regional environment, has soft pronunciation and three changes in one language, so it is called "Wu Yi soft language". (it is different from Zhu Wenchang's "Qin History" that "Shu is impatient and impatient, if the waves rush to thunder". There used to be more than 220 gardens (and gardens) in Suzhou, which have experienced the flames of war. up to now, more than 60 have been preserved, and 20 to 30 are open. The gardens of Suzhou are different from those of the rich gentry in other cities, not only have a long history, but also mostly from the hands of literary celebrities at that time, thus reflecting a high degree of artistic accomplishment and strong humanistic spirit. For example, the Humble Administration Garden was originally built by the imperial king Xianchen of the Ming Dynasty after abandoning officials and returning to his hometown. its site was once the former residence of Lu Luwang, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, with a quiet environment and indifferent to nature. The remaining garden, which stands out in the architectural layout, was the private garden of Xu Tai, a servant of the Ming Dynasty, and then returned to the government of the Qing Dynasty so that Liu Rongfeng was renovated into "Hanbi Villa", with a cold bamboo color and clear waves. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the pool pavilion "Canglang Pavilion" of Qian Yuan Liao, king of Wu Yue Guangling, came to the north to buy it for the poet Su Shunqing, and later became the residence of Han Shizhong, a famous anti-Jin general in the Southern Song Dynasty, so it was called Hanyuan, Xiishui, Qingyou and ancient. And so on, it can be said that every garden has a "fate" with literary celebrities. Garden art and bonsai art are already "twin sisters". The high achievement of Suzhou landscape architecture is bound to have a direct and significant impact on the formation and development of Suzhou bonsai, especially the creators of these gardens. Many of them are bonsai lovers and producers. Suzhou is not only a commercial city, but also a cultural city, with a large number of cultural relics, high quality and great reputation, which are rare in the country. Since the early Tang Dynasty, Suzhou has been the center of cultural activities in the south of the Yangtze River, and it is famous for its poetry, calligraphy and painting. There were Lu Xun in the three Kingdoms period, Lu Ji and Lu Yun in the Jin Dynasty, Wei Yingwu, Bai Juyi and Liu Yuxi in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, Lu Guimeng and Pi Rixiu in the late Tang Dynasty, and more literary celebrities from Suzhou after the Song and Yuan dynasties. In particular, the "Wumen painting School" in the Ming Dynasty, dominated by Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, Tang Yin and Qiu Ying, had a more far-reaching impact on the artistic style of Suzhou bonsai. From the Chronicles of long things written by Wen Zhenheng, a native of Suzhou, we can see that the bonsai stump in Suzhou at that time had already imitated the painting meaning of famous painters and the poetic feelings of famous poets, pursuing the artistic realm of "Gusu Zhi" such as "Yunlin Mountain painting": "Huqiu people are good at planting strange flowers and plants in poverty, Pansong ancient plum, buy several cases, elegant and lovely, called bonsai." Zhou Lianjuan, a famous modern writer and horticulturist in Suzhou, once pointed out. "my potted plant. On the one hand, it comes from creative creation, on the other hand, it is done according to the famous paintings of the ancients." He has successively made "Banana Stone Picture" by Tang Yin, "Crane listening Qin Picture" by Shen Shitian, "Bamboo interest Picture" and "half window Qingcui Map" by Xia Zhongzhao, and "Xinpu Shou Stone Picture" by King Yanrong of the Qing Dynasty. " Shen Shitian is Shen Zhou and Wang Yanrong is Wang Yuanqi, one of the "six masters" of painting in the early Qing Dynasty. Su style tree stump bonsai can be divided into two categories: rules (that is, the law of Sichuan School) and nature. The main form of the traditional rule class is called "six sets, three supports and one top". The trunk is divided into six bends, leaving one side branch in each bend, and three branches in the left, right and back directions are tied into nine round branches. the left and right symmetrical pieces are "six sets", and the three pieces on the back are "three supports", and then tie into a large branch at the top of the tree, that is, "one top", which is interesting and indistinct. When Chen Fang, the two pots are generally symmetrical, meaning "perfect", so they are very popular with dignitaries, rich businessmen and gentry; ordinary people are also very welcome, looking for good luck, and enjoying both elegance and popularity. With the advance of the times, in the 1940s, under the bold innovation of the bonsai artists represented by Zhu Zi'an, the natural category which coexisted with the regular class got rid of the shackles of the traditional form and adopted the technique of "rough binding and fine cutting". Rapid prototyping, giving Su School bonsai a new spirit of the times. The so-called "coarse binding and fine shearing" is based on scissors, supplemented by pruning, using brown silk to tie the branches into two-and-a-half S-shaped sheets that are flat and slightly tilted, and later trimmed into an oval with scissors, slightly raised in the middle, keeping its natural shape as far as possible, shaped like clouds, and in accordance with the growth habits of trees, the "top" of each stump is no longer upward, but extends to the side branches to make it more plump and beautiful. The position of "top" varies from pile to pile and from situation to situation, in order to achieve the artistic effect of concise composition and far-reaching artistic conception, which has become the main feature of the bonsai art style of the contemporary Soviet School. Known as the king of bonsai in Jiangsu Province, the 500-year-old Rhyme of Qin and Han dynasties (Yuanbai), Yun Steamed Xiawei (Da Tuosong) and Sheng Shi Ming (Finch Plum) can be regarded as the typical representative works of this school, and they are also treasures handed down from generation to generation in the bonsai art garden all over the country.

Suzhou, a Chinese bonsai school with a history of 2500 years, is located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, on the shore of Taihu Lake, with continuous hills, dense rivers, humid climate and abundant rainfall, which is suitable for plant breeding and growth. it provides extremely favorable regional environment and natural conditions for the development of tree stump bonsai.

Suzhou is not only a unique water city, but also a garden city with the great achievements of oriental garden architecture. since ancient times, Suzhou has enjoyed the reputation of "Jiangnan gardens are the first in the world and Suzhou gardens are in the south of the Yangtze River". Suzhou urban waterways are vertical and horizontal, with bridges crisscrossing. In the past, there were nearly 100 kilometers of waterways, but now there are 40 kilometers. In the past, there were 325 bridges, but now more than 100 are still preserved. Du Gouhe, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, sent his friend to visit Wu and wrote: "I will see you in Gusu, and they will do their best to rest on the river." There is little free land in the left palace, and there are many water bridges in the alley. The night market appreciates the lotus root, and the spring boat carries the achievements. Knowing the sleepless moon, homesickness is in the fishing song. " From it, we can see the style and features of Suzhou at that time. Suzhou dialect, which is conceived from this regional environment, has soft pronunciation and three changes in one language, so it is called "Wu Yi soft language". (it is different from Zhu Wenchang's "Qin History" that "Shu is impatient and impatient, if the waves rush to thunder". )

There were more than 220 gardens (and gardens) in Suzhou, which have gone through the flames of war. up to now, more than 60 have been preserved, and 20 to 30 are open. The gardens of Suzhou are different from those of the rich gentry in other cities, not only have a long history, but also mostly from the hands of literary celebrities at that time, thus reflecting a high degree of artistic accomplishment and strong humanistic spirit. For example, the Humble Administration Garden was originally built by the imperial king Xianchen of the Ming Dynasty after abandoning officials and returning to his hometown. its site was once the former residence of Lu Luwang, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, with a quiet environment and indifferent to nature. The remaining garden, which stands out in the architectural layout, was the private garden of Xu Tai, a servant of the Ming Dynasty, and then returned to the government of the Qing Dynasty so that Liu Rongfeng was renovated into "Hanbi Villa", with a cold bamboo color and clear waves. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the pool pavilion "Canglang Pavilion" of Qian Yuan Liao, king of Wu Yue Guangling, came to the north to buy it for the poet Su Shunqing, and later became the residence of Han Shizhong, a famous anti-Jin general in the Southern Song Dynasty, so it was called Hanyuan, Xiishui, Qingyou and ancient. And so on, it can be said that every garden has a "fate" with literary celebrities. Garden art and bonsai art are already "twin sisters". The high achievement of Suzhou landscape architecture is bound to have a direct and significant impact on the formation and development of Suzhou bonsai, especially the creators of these gardens. Many of them are bonsai lovers and producers.

Suzhou is not only a commercial city, but also a cultural city, with a large number of cultural relics, high quality and great reputation, which are rare in the country. Since the early Tang Dynasty, Suzhou has been the center of cultural activities in the south of the Yangtze River, and it is famous for its poetry, calligraphy and painting. There were Lu Xun in the three Kingdoms period, Lu Ji and Lu Yun in the Jin Dynasty, Wei Yingwu, Bai Juyi and Liu Yuxi in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, Lu Guimeng and Pi Rixiu in the late Tang Dynasty, and more literary celebrities from Suzhou after the Song and Yuan dynasties. In particular, the "Wumen painting School" in the Ming Dynasty, dominated by Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, Tang Yin and Qiu Ying, had a more far-reaching impact on the artistic style of Suzhou bonsai. From the Chronicles of long things written by Wen Zhenheng, a native of Suzhou, we can see that the bonsai stump in Suzhou at that time had already imitated the painting meaning of famous painters and the poetic feelings of famous poets, pursuing the artistic realm of "Gusu Zhi" such as "Yunlin Mountain painting": "Huqiu people are good at planting strange flowers and plants in poverty, Pansong ancient plum, buy several cases, elegant and lovely, called bonsai." Zhou Lianjuan, a famous modern writer and horticulturist in Suzhou, once pointed out. "my potted plant. On the one hand, it comes from creative creation, on the other hand, it is done according to the famous paintings of the ancients." He has successively made "Banana Stone Picture" by Tang Yin, "Crane listening Qin Picture" by Shen Shitian, "Bamboo interest Picture" and "half window Qingcui Map" by Xia Zhongzhao, and "Xinpu Shou Stone Picture" by King Yanrong of the Qing Dynasty. " Shen Shitian is Shen Zhou and Wang Yanrong is Wang Yuanqi, one of the "six masters" of painting in the early Qing Dynasty. )

Su style tree stump bonsai can be divided into two categories: rules (that is, the law of Sichuan School) and nature. The main form of the traditional rule class is called "six sets, three supports and one top". The trunk is divided into six bends, leaving one side branch in each bend, and three branches in the left, right and back directions are tied into nine round branches. the left and right symmetrical pieces are "six sets", and the three pieces on the back are "three supports", and then tie into a large branch at the top of the tree, that is, "one top", which is interesting and indistinct. When Chen Fang, the two pots are generally symmetrical, meaning "perfect", so they are very popular with dignitaries, rich businessmen and gentry; ordinary people are also very welcome, looking for good luck, and enjoying both elegance and popularity.

With the advance of the times, in the 1940s, under the bold innovation of the bonsai artists represented by Zhu Zi'an, the natural category which coexisted with the regular class got rid of the shackles of the traditional form and adopted the technique of "rough binding and fine cutting". Rapid prototyping, giving Su School bonsai a new spirit of the times. The so-called "coarse binding and fine shearing" is based on scissors, supplemented by pruning, using brown silk to tie the branches into two-and-a-half S-shaped sheets that are flat and slightly tilted, and later trimmed into an oval with scissors, slightly raised in the middle, keeping its natural shape as far as possible, shaped like clouds, and in accordance with the growth habits of trees, the "top" of each stump is no longer upward, but extends to the side branches to make it more plump and beautiful. The position of "top" varies from pile to pile and from situation to situation, in order to achieve the artistic effect of concise composition and far-reaching artistic conception, which has become the main feature of the bonsai art style of the contemporary Soviet School. Known as the king of bonsai in Jiangsu Province, the 500-year-old Rhyme of Qin and Han dynasties (Yuanbai), Yunfeng Xiawei (Da Tuosong) and Sheng Shi Ming (Finch Plum) can be regarded as the typical representative works of this school, and they are also treasures handed down from generation to generation in the bonsai art garden all over the country.

Tree stump bonsai commonly used tree species are pine, cypress, sparrow plum, hammer elm, yellow poplar, triangle maple, pomegranate, birds do not stay and so on.

Su School bonsai landscape bonsai is also quite a lot of ancient painting, full of strong poetic feelings, simple layout, rigorous rules, vividly reproduce the scenery of the south of the Yangtze River. The commonly used stones are axe split stone, Kunshan white stone, Taihu stone, quartz stone and so on. Since the reform and opening up, with more and more exchanges between various factions, other stone varieties have been introduced.