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Admire the flowers of rongcheng history
"China is the mother of the world's gardens", Wilson proposed this concept in the early 20th century and wrote a book to pass it on. CCTV has a documentary called "Wilson of China", the introduction of which mentions: "100 years ago, the British botanist Wilson (one of the earliest plant hunters) came to western China to investigate plants, and a large number of photos he took became evidence for the local natural and cultural landscape." This expert and scholar with considerable prestige in the botanical world not only took many photos of old Chengdu in the late Qing Dynasty, but also titled the Chengdu Plain "Garden of Western China" in his books.
The circular pot plant pattern in the murals of the Eastern Han Tombs in Wangdu, Hebei Province
Mainland floral culture has a long history, and bonsai originated from the mainland. Earlier, the use of flowers by the Chinese people was to eat them, and the Warring States Qu Yuan's "Departure from sorrow" had the sentence "Falling dew of drinking Mulan, falling to the autumn chrysanthemums of the Evening Meal", and then there was the ancient Shu specialty of "Qiuqing" mentioned in the Western Han Yangxiong's "Shu Dufu", which was actually brewed by the Shu people. The "Book of Poetry", which collects folk songs from the early Western Zhou Dynasty to the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, has a different message. The Book of Poetry collects many folk songs with flowers and trees as the theme, and records the flowers in the countryside or the gardens where people live, saying that "the mountain has Jiahui, Houli Houmei" and "The king is in lingyuan, and the deer are ambushed". China's land is vast, the development situation of various places is not uniform, and there are intersections in many places, but the history books of the unified history and the background of people's lives at that time show that the development process of Chinese flower culture began with practicality, and then developed to the intended viewing.
Part of the "Gongtu"
In the following dynasties, people's living standards improved, aesthetic interest grew, and bonsai and bonsai were developed in this field. There is a potted image in the mural of the Eastern Han Tomb in Wangdu, Hebei Province, and the pottery scroll has 6 flowers planted along the round pot, which are placed on a square shelf similar to the flower table, which is a potted plant. In the picture of the "Tribute Map" painted by Yan Liben Zhenguan of the Tang Dynasty, in the queue of nanyang tribute, the two envoys carrying ivory were distributed around the three envoys who each carried a mountain stone bonsai, and the later mural of the Tomb of Prince Zhanghuai of Tang Zhanghuai yongdao also painted a plate of ladies holding a plate, with stones on the plate, and flowers and trees on the stone, at this time the potted plants have been upgraded to a bonsai that pays more attention to the mood and sense of picture.
Prince Zhanghuai's tomb Yongtong mural on the lady to the bonsai
After the exploration and practice of successive generations of bonsai artists, the flower culture of the mainland, or more specifically, the traditional bonsai culture, has formed four major schools, and the Sichuan school of bonsai is one of them.
Sichuan pie bonsai
Sichuan bonsai is mainly distributed in Chengdu and its surrounding areas, known for its colorful panza techniques, like to golden marbles, Luohan pine, ginkgo biloba, ziwei, sticker begonias, etc. as tree species for modeling, to be simple and rigorous, curvy and colorful, according to legend originated in the Eastern Han Dynasty (according to the China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network), about the Tang Dynasty to the Five Dynasties period, because the Zhenguan period dominated the southwest of the Bashu region abolished the state, county system, changed Yizhou to Jiannan Province, so also known as Jiannan Bonsai, Its formation is deeply related to the prosperity of ancient Shu flowers and trees and the local customs of the Bashu people who are willing to enjoy life.
In the Tang Dynasty, flowers and trees were planted around the western and southern suburbs of Chengdu, and regular flower markets were formed, mainly concentrated in the qingyang palace area. Every year, when the plum blossoms are in full bloom, there will be a government-sponsored plum blossom party between Qingyang Palace and Huanhuaxi. To the Song Dynasty", "Chengdu Ancient and Modern Collection" recorded "December City", the flower and tree theme categories are "February Flower Market", "August Laurel City" and "November Plum Market", accounting for a quarter of the annual market, which not only shows that Chengdu flower and tree culture tends to be popular, but also shows that Chengdu has a market for flowers and trees. And during this period, there were also Wei Gao, Fang Zhen, Li Deyu and other town officials in the Bashu area to build pavilions, gardens, etc., to create a Maha Pond, Bijifang, Scattered Flower Building and other famous gardens in Shu, these ponds and pavilions in the Song Dynasty competed to open, the public can also see the beauty of their scenery to be pleasant, upward and downward effects, the official or the official on behalf of the official series of decisions, the series of flowers and trees produced by the behavior of the flourishing and beautiful realm, but also to a certain extent to promote the development of Shuzhong flowers and trees bonsai. Therefore, the horticultural industry of Bashu in the Song Dynasty was highly developed, and Su Shi, a Sichuan man who was good at literati painting (also known as scholar-doctor freehand painting, mostly from landscapes and flowers and trees), not only made his own bonsai, but also chanted the bonsai into the painting, leaving "I hold this stone return, and there is the East Sea in my sleeve... Placed in the pot, the sun and the mountains and the sea" and other verses, try to say that this small bonsai contains a clean kun.
Chengdu Scattered Flower Building (Photo by Zhou Jie, Courtesy of Fang Zhi Sichuan)
In the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, Sichuan school bonsai further developed, and its skills were widely spread among the people, forming a prosperous scene of Sichuan stump bonsai. The Chengdu Encyclopedia, known as the Encyclopedia of Chengdu at the end of the Qing Dynasty, introduces: "The flowers and trees of Chengdu are mostly in the inner city. Outside the city, the flower market of the Erxian Nunnery and the garden of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple are used as conveniences, and inside the city, there are several houses on the side of the Jade Emperor Temple and the Agricultural Flower Fairy Hall on Shaanxi Street. "Outside the city, such as the Shuanglin Pan Zhongjia Garden outside the East Gate, the Feng Family Garden on the side of the Caotang Temple outside the South Gate, the Yinshi Building outside the East Gate, etc., the city such as the Ding Gong Ancestral Hall, the Buhou Street Sun Family Garden, the Three Locust Tree Wang Family Garden, etc., the corner of the Shaocheng Where the Eight Banner Soldiers live has also developed well, and there are bamboo branches saying: "Manchuria City is not prosperous, and planting trees and flowers has its own ends." The good times cannot be seen in an endless year, and the Yantianwu Temple enjoys lotus flowers. And at that time, Sichuan was still one of the main production areas of precious bonsai stones, zhu jiuding "stone genealogy" recorded: "Now even into Shu, Shu Dao more early flowers, the river Rao strange stone, so ordered the boy to look for it on the river, get more than ten stones, all strange and exquisite." ”
"Chengdu Overview" (Pengzhou Xianshi photographed in Chengdu Sichuan Cuisine Museum, Fang Zhi Sichuan photo)
In the early years of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, every year on the 25th day of the first lunar month, the Chengdu Youth Palace will hold a flower party, and flower farmers and bonsai artists from all over the world will send all kinds of bonsai made by themselves to the meeting for display, evaluation and sales, and there are also "flower gangs" specializing in bonsai trading. During this period, chengdu emerged a lot of bonsai artists with their own skills, such as Zhang Binru's "first moon type" bend, "rice knot" bend, Chen Yushan's "falling" technique, Dai Sogo and Gong Xiezhi's "rolling dragon holding pillar" method, etc., and their works and character-related deeds are scattered in various bonsai magazine literature. The "Selected Materials of the Golden Bull Literature and History (II)" contains the brief introduction of these florists, and the inner text "Directory of Modern Flower Farmers in Jinniu District" introduces Zhang Binru's (1883-1960) garden in today's Chenghua land boundary, saying that Zhang Binru "lived in the east of The Horse Bridge Street outside the north gate of Chengdu [under the jurisdiction of Qinglong Township], the garden name 'Yixiang Garden', the garden land is more than one acre", Qinglong Township is now Qinglong Street.
In the spring of 1911, the stalls in qingyang palace during the Chengdu Flower Festival (courtesy of Chengdu Qingyang District Local History Office)
At that time, a boom in flower and tree planting arose in the suburbs of Chengdu, and by the 1930s, an industry union was formed, called the Chengdu Flower and Fruit Forest Horticulture Industry Association, which reunited the flower makers in Chengdu and nearby Wenjiang, Pixian, Guanxian, Chongqing, Xindu, Shifang, Leshan and other places, and on march 18 and July 18 of the lunar calendar every year, they worshiped the flower gods at the flower temple in the western suburbs, exchanged experiences and passed on skills, and Zhang Binru, mentioned above, was twice elected as the chairman of the guild.
In 2011, the Sichuan bonsai production technology with its own artistic charm and unique production technology system, was selected into the third batch of national intangible cultural heritage list, in the Baihuatan Park there is a Sichuan bonsai garden, along the historical vein, to show the profound historical and cultural heritage of Sichuan bonsai.
Baihuatan Park Uchikawa Pai Bonsai Garden
Source: Sichuan Provincial Local History Work Office
Contributed by: Chengdu Chenghua District Local History Office
Pictured: Fang Zhi Sichuan
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