Bonsai Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
According to tradition, Chuan-style (Sichuan-style) penjing originated in the Eastern Han period. By the Five Dynasties, Chuan-style penjing art had already developed a style of its own; after passing through the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, it finally formed a distinctive modeling school and craft style. After the Qing dynasty, Chuan-style penjing began to move from the studies of literati and poets into the courtyards of ordinary households. Many ordinary flower growers took up the craft of binding tree stumps, and the Chuan-style penjing techniques of the "three forms and five types" became widespread. At the Chengdu flower fairs of the late Qing, penjing was already a commodity that visitors could appraise and purchase, and "flower guilds" (huabang) specializing in penjing trade appeared. Chuan-style penjing is said to have originated in the Eastern Han. Its techniques were gradually fixed under the warm, rainy climate of the western Sichuan plain and the mountainous, stony geography of the basin's periphery; the tree material and rock used in the trays were mostly taken from the mountains around the Sichuan Basin. By the Five Dynasties, Chuan-style penjing art had already developed a style of its own; after passing through the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, it finally formed a distinctive modeling school and craft style.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
In terms of the style of its craft, Chuan-style penjing divides into four types: the stylized binding craft of stump penjing, natural-style stump modeling, rock-and-landscape (shanshi) penjing modeling craft, and the craft of combined tree-and-rock penjing. With its artistic style of "seeing the great in the small and shrinking the dragon to inches," Chuan-style penjing has been praised as a "three-dimensional painting" and "soundless poetry," and it has won various awards at many exhibitions in China and abroad. The stylized binding craft of Chuan-style stump penjing emphasizes fixed formulas for trunk technique and branch technique. Rock-and-landscape penjing uses stone produced in the mountains around the Sichuan Basin, cut, carved, and joined with saws and chisels to form peaks and ridges. Combined tree-and-rock penjing places a stump and rock together in one tray, combining the strengths of both.
Four technical categories
By technique it divides into formal trunk-training, natural trunk shaping, rock landscape and tree-with-rock combination categories.
Three forms, five types, and the flower guild
After the Qing the craft moved from scholars' studies to ordinary courtyards as its three forms and five types spread, and the Chengdu flower fair bred a trade guild.
Three-dimensional painting, silent poem
Praised as a three-dimensional painting and a silent poem for shrinking the dragon to an inch, it has won prizes at home and abroad.
Rock material and cutting
Rock pieces are gathered from the Sichuan basin's hills and cut, carved and joined into peaks, then planted with moss and greenery.
Traced to the Eastern Han
The school is traced to the Eastern Han, already distinctive by the Five Dynasties and fully formed after Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Chuan-style penjing is found mainly in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, and the surrounding area. Through the exploration and practice of penjing artisans over successive generations, it has developed its own distinctive style and techniques in its craft, and it is one of the four great schools of traditional Chinese penjing. In Sichuan, Chuan-style penjing is centered on Chengdu and radiates outward to Wenjiang, Pixian, Dujiangyan, and other places. Growers in different localities differ slightly in binding methods and habits of material selection, and together they make up the distribution pattern of Chuan-style penjing.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Bonsai Craftsmanship · Bonsai Craftsmanship · Bonsai Craftsmanship · Bonsai Craftsmanship · Bonsai Craftsmanship · Bonsai Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The transmission of Chuan-style penjing craft relies mainly on master-apprentice instruction and the flower guilds. The "flower guilds" of the late-Qing Chengdu flower fairs were both trade organizations and venues for the exchange of craft. As one of the four great schools of traditional Chinese penjing, Chuan-style penjing has had a profound influence on the gardens and domestic furnishing of the western Sichuan plain. However, the creative cycle is long and source material is slow to cultivate, so elderly artisans who fully master the binding methods of the "three forms and five types" are growing fewer day by day.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhao Qingquan 03-1301
- Cao Jide 05-2701
- Zhu Zhenqing 05-2702
- Hong Guanqing 05-2703
- Shen Baiping
- Wang Rusheng
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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