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Those
earliest pot-grown specimens were natural trees
shaped by the harshness of nature into
interesting curves and dwarfed by the same
process. In those days they were very rare and
so expensive that only monasteries and the
nobility could afford to keep them.
It
was common practice in China to grow plum and
cherry trees in pots, which were then brought
indoors
just before the celebration of the New Year and
so forced into bloom. Those Chinese trees were
often “trained” into some fantastic shapes,
like candelabras or twisted like a snake or a
dragon. Trade in those early days was frequent
between the islanders (Japanese and Koreans).
The spreading of Buddhism with its monks – who
were the learned people of the day – is said
to have introduced the idea of potted trees into
Japan.
The
techniques of artificial shaping, which were at
first used only to compensate for natural
defects, began to evolve during the Tokusawa Era
(17th to 19th century) in
Japan.
The
conception of the idea and the development of
the techniques to dwarf plants from ordinary
seedlings and cuttings was only a matter of time
and with this, the ownership of a fine bonsai
came within the reach of anyone with the basic
skill and patience so necessary to care for it.
The
first appearance of bonsai in its modern form,
outside the Orient, was at an exhibition in
London in the year 1909.The spreading of the art
into the western world really only happened
after the end of World War 2, when large numbers
of westerners were in Japan and some Japanese
masters of the art settled in the Americas.
It
was in the early 50’s that bonsai was first
practised by a few South Africans but only in
the 60’s was a club of bonsai fanciers
formed.The publication of the first bonsai book
in English, by the Japanese Travel Bureau in
1951 opened the field to many fanciers of the
art and today there are a great number of books
available from various authors and originating
from a great number of countries as well as
languages.
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