Author | Wang Xiuying
Seven or eight years ago, under the leadership of Hua Hanmin, an international bonsai art master and "Donggao Flower God", the reporter had the honor to visit his residence in Rugao, Jiangsu Province, "Flower God Residence", and the exquisite and unique pots of bonsai in the elegant courtyard are still fresh in my memory. In 2017, the master drove the crane to the west, and there was one less "flower god" in the world. But fortunately, his son Hua Yongfu got his father's true biography and has been active in the bonsai world, and recently, the reporter interviewed him.
▲Hana Yong fury makes bonsai
Influenced by his father to engage in bonsai business
Hua Yongnu was engaged in the business of bonsai and was influenced by his father, Hua Hanmin. The bonsai love of Hua Hanmin benefits from the influence of his ancestors. Before the founding of New China, the Huajia family had a bonsai garden, and the ancient cypress, elm and boxwood bonsai in the garden were varied. After the founding of New China, although all the bonsai in the park were moved to rugao County People's Park, Hua Hanmin still had a special love for bonsai. Although he worked as a barefoot doctor in the brigade, he still surrounded the two small grass huts where he lived in a small courtyard with large-leaf boxwood balls and served bonsai. At the end of the Cultural Revolution, his cultivation of bonsai was even more "intensified" and became more and more unmanageable, so that the Industrial and Commercial Bureau at that time filed a case to investigate his "speculation and backwardness" behavior, and it was not until the reform and opening up that he was able to rehabilitate and remove his hat. The twists and turns of the family have forged the unique vicissitudes of Hua Hanmin bonsai art. Later, bonsai ceased to be the "tail of capitalism" and became art, ushering in a real spring. With the support of local leaders, Hua Hanmin raised 6,000 yuan and set up the Chengxi Huamu Company, which was later known in the industry and inside and outside the Rugao Green Garden.
In such a family background, Hua Yongnu has a different kind of affection for bonsai. Born in the middle of the Cultural Revolution, he studied Chinese painting at Shanghai Normal University. After working, he entered the green garden founded by his father to engage in bonsai creation. He used the aesthetics of Chinese painting he learned to expand the idea of bonsai, which was undoubtedly an innovation compared to the fixed mode of the seven major genres of bonsai at that time. Under the initiation of Hua Hanmin, Hua Yongnu's bonsai language is different, and his first creation tasted the joy of winning the award. Hua Yongnu believes that true art comes from clever hands and puppets, and it is a burst of cultural accumulation. Stylized bonsai is not art, at best it is a mass production reproduction. For bonsai people, the master can make them able but not clever, let alone make them magical. Inspiration is the primary factor in the creation of bonsai. In the face of ordinary materials, excavating its deep connotation with your own eyes, and through certain techniques, giving new vitality to life, sublimating it, resonating with the viewer, getting inspired, and meeting spiritual needs is the meaning of bonsai creation.
Engaged in bonsai creation for more than 30 years, Hua Yongnu's works have won countless national and provincial awards. In 1989, his work "Alpine Flowing Water" won the China Bonsai Appraisal Excellence Award, in May 1991, his work "Sun Moon Shenghui" won the first prize of the first International Bonsai Conference, and in 1992, his work "Happy" won the first prize of the "China Cup" Competition for Bonsai Famous Flowers on Both Sides of the Straits to the World... He also devoted himself to the development of the bonsai industry. In 2004, "Rupai Bonsai" applied for a registered trademark; in 2008, the Rupai Bonsai Research Institute was founded, and in 2017, as the main material collection and collation organization, the "Rugao Bonsai" organization declared the Nantong municipal and Jiangsu provincial intangible cultural heritage and passed, and finally became a national intangible cultural heritage project; he was hired as the vice president of the Rugao Excellent Talents Association and the president of the Excellent Rural Professional Talents Branch. In addition, Hua Yongnu has published 121 papers on various bonsai and 3 books.
▲"Sunset Illumination"
Enjoy the joy of creating bonsai
For Hua Yongnu, the process of creating bonsai is interesting and very meaningful. During the interview, he recalled sharing a story that made him unforgettable. Once I went to the Netherlands to give a bonsai lecture. Although his English is not very good, and some professional words are difficult to express clearly, it cannot stop foreigners from being interested in Chinese bonsai art. Under his pruning, in the blink of an eye, the natural woolly boxwood and Luohan pine became layered like magic, or into a stable triangle, or into a humble welcome. Foreigners don't seem to believe their eyes, and they all gather around the work to see what it is. Their sense of participation is still very strong, there is a young man who wants to try, the upper hand wants to change the direction of a piece of branches, only to listen to the crisp sound of "popping", the branches should be broken, and the entire shape collapses instantly. The young man apologized profusely. And Hana Yong said angrily, "It's okay, I'll come." After that, he directly cut off the fragments, tilted the side of the missing piece against the mouth of the basin, and after a little treatment, a cliff-like bonsai jumped in front of him. The "defective products" between the conversations and laughs once again glowed with a different style. The foreign friends present looked at each other, some applauded, some held out their thumbs, and that kind of surprised look still made Hua Yongfu remember it vividly. "I was amused and a little smug. In fact, that is just a job that we Rugao people will do. Hua Yong said angrily.
After years of bonsai creation, Hua Yongnu has his own views on the bonsai industry. He said that everything is constantly evolving, bonsai is no exception, and there is nothing wrong with pursuing innovation, but tradition must not be forgotten. Nowadays, compared with the new bonsai style, the traditional seven major schools seem to be absent, but they are the foundation of Chinese bonsai and should be well inherited, which is also an important reason why Supai, Yangpai and Rupai bonsai have applied for intangible cultural heritage protection projects and passed. The traditional bonsai matures for a long period, does not adapt to the current rhythm of life, how not to lose tradition, but also to adapt to the new development, is currently a new issue in front of the bonsai people. For example, the two-and-a-half-bent bonsai is the main body of the Tongpai bonsai, and the seven major genres have their place. His father dug deep into the cultural essence of Rupai Bonsai, and he compiled the profound connotations of Rupai Bonsai into a book last year, which was translated into English and published in London. The book elaborates on the cultural essence of Rupai Bonsai with great ideological connotations. I hope that this heritage will be known and appreciated by more people.
In addition, bonsai has not really entered the homes of ordinary people, and most of them communicate with players. He said that although there are more and more people raising green plants at home, there are still relatively few people who raise bonsai, and the promotion of bonsai has a long way to go.
▲Apricot Garden Interchange Landscape Project EPC Project
Use the concept of bonsai creation to update the landscape modeling ideas
In recent years, Hua Yongnu has begun to enter the field of landscape art. The Dayangkou Ecological Protection Project on the coast of the Yellow Sea in Jiangsu Province and the Tongzhou Bay University Town Landscape Project are all new attempts for him to integrate the artistic conception of bonsai and artistic creation techniques into the landscape and enhance the taste of the landscape. Because of the addition of the bonsai creation concept, the landscape effect of the project is different, and the owners are full of praise. At present, the new project West Safety Games supporting project Xingyuan interchange landscape project has also begun construction.
Talking about the original intention of switching from bonsai creation to landscape modeling design, Hua Yongnu said that landscape art and bonsai plastic art have the same magic, both from the accumulation of 5,000 years of Chinese cultural heritage. In terms of dependency, bonsai and gardening are complementary. Bonsai is the shining highlight of horticulture, and horticulture is an important carrier of bonsai, and the two are inseparable. In terms of expressive techniques, they are independent art systems. Bonsai art pursues connotation and personality, through the morphological control of plants, to achieve the image of wind, snow, rain and dew, so as to express personal emotions, express the author's inner joys and sorrows, life outlook and world view, and seek inner monologue. Horticulture, on the other hand, shows the beautiful time and space that people generally yearn for, either withered or prosperous, and is also customary and Zen, and strives to create a beautiful realm that originates from nature and is higher than nature. "Landscape plastic art and bonsai art are inseparable, my bonsai creation concept can update the landscape modeling ideas, and landscape experience can expand the vision of bonsai creation." So whether it is a bonsai or a landscape, I want to merge the two into one, and use persistence to paint a landscape picture, to the poetry in my heart and the distance. Hua Yong said angrily.