• Root-Attaching (附根)
• Stem-Attaching (附莖)
• Ride-on-Rock (騎石, similar to Sekijoju)

Since the first day I learned landscape penjing, I have been told that root-attaching method is the most challenging, yet, yields the most spectacular scenery in landscape penjing. And while stem-attaching comes second, ride-on-rock method comes last. Indeed, Teacher Wong tells us not to use ride-on-rock method, but encourages us to use root-attaching method and stem-attaching method when making our landscape penjing.

Root-Attaching (附根) and Stem-Attaching (附莖)

Root-Attaching is a method in which the roots of the bonsai tree grows along and attaches to the cracks of the rocks. The roots attach onto the rock firmly enough and can hold up the tree strongly on the rock. Root-Attaching method needs a small tree with very long roots to begin with. If there is no small tree with long roots on hand, we will retreat to using stem-attaching method which attach the stem on the rock while allowing the roots to grow in the soil of the bonsai pot.

Ride-on-Rock (騎石, similar to Sekijoju)

Similar to Japanese bonsai’s Sekijoju, ride-on-rock is a method in which the bonsai tree grows on top of the rock, and the roots of the tree wraps around a rock. The rock is the base of the trunk, with the roots exposed to different angles as they traverse the rock and then descend into the soil below.

Here, I would like to show a few photos of landscape penjing and water-and-land penjing. Hopefully, this will be helpful to other bonsai beginners who may get all confused with landscape penjing and water-and-land penjing like how I was before.

Water-and-Land Penjing (Shuihan Penjing, 水旱盆景)

Land-and-water penjing uses trees, rocks and water to create a complex scene that not only looks beautiful, but also tells a story. Like landscape penjing, trees may or may not appear; if they are included, they play a minor role in the overall composition.

All three water-and-land penjing are by penjing master – Zhao Qing Quan

Landscape Penjing (Shanshui Penjing, 山水盆景)

Like water-and-land penjing, landscape penjing may use water when depicting the scene. Yet, in landscape penjing, it is often the rock rather than the tree is the central focus of the scene. In addition, landscape penjing always depicts mountain scene.

Landscape penjing by Lingnan penjing master – Wong Chiu Shing

Sometimes, I find that the line between landscape penjing and water-and-land penjing can be quite blurred. A penjing may look like a typical water-and-land penjing while has some strong characteristics of a landscape penjing.  In my opinion, while we should understand the terminologies, it is not necessary to separate and classify everything clearly.  Bonsai is an art and art has no clear-cut boundaries

Generally, Chinese penjing (penjing is bonsai in Chinese) can be categorized into three types: tree penjing, landscape penjing (Shanshui Penjing, 山水盆景 in Chinese), and water-and-land penjing (shuihan penjing, 水旱盆景 in Chinese). Unlike tree penjing, which has dwarfed trees be the core and only element in the pot, landscape penjing and water-and-land penjing have rocks playing a big role as well. Indeed, in landscape penjing, the rock rather than the tree is the central focus of the scene.

Hence, rock plays a big part in Chinese penjing. While we have different sets of criteria when selecting suitable rocks for different penjing, some general rules always (or almost always) apply. And here are some general guidelines for choosing rocks particularly for landscape penjing with mountain or cliff scene.

Rock Type

Many kinds of rocks are suitable for penjing, as long as the rocks are strong and won’t break apart easily. In Guangdong province, landscapes made from Ying Rock are common. Rock pieces are piled in an ingenious manner to create an appearance of both grandeur and elegance, or to effect rock formations which either thrust into the sky or lie across the container and stretch toward the horizon.

Rock Shape

When we are looking for a nice piece of rock for our landscape penjing, we always try to find one that is in the shape of an inverted (or upside down) triangle. This is especially important for landscape penjing of cliff scene. This is because it is easier to create a steep, dangerous-looking cliff with rock that is in the shape of an inverted triangle than one in a boring, broad, flat shape.

left: A young tree with long roots has been attached to a crack of the rock. The roots will need to be tied up and surrounded by potting mix for a period of time in order to attach stably on the rock.

Cracks on Rocks

Rocks with vertical lines and cracks are preferred over rocks with horizontal lines and cracks. This is because the branches and roots of our bonsai trees can develop and grow better within the vertical cracks, and grip the rock along the vertical cracks more securely.

Rock Color

Usually we use white, cream, black, gray, brownish red, or a mix of these colors. Just remember don’t use green rock for it may cover up the beautiful foliage of our bonsai tree.

Similar to Chinese poetry and landscape painting which rely on a very limited amount of content to portray a vast scene in the mind of listener/viewer, Chinese penjing uses only a limited number of elements to portray and relive the whole nature scene in the mind of the viewers. Chinese penjing artists adopt many of the principles encountered in traditional landscape painting. They observe the ways trees are rendered in these paintings, and then strive for similar effects in their work.

Landscape paintings of Zhang Da-qian (張大千) (1899～1983) – one of the best-known and most prodigious Chinese artists of the twentieth century

One of the most pleasing aspects of Chinese penjing is its impressionistic appearance. Penjing, or landscape bonsai, in particular, strongly resemble the brushstroke paintings of the literati and zen schools. The freedom and informality of these compositions have a freshness which is probably unique in the art of penjing. Although penjing artist follow some basic principles and guidelines, no strict rules apply.

The influence of Chinese painting is perhaps most clearly seen in the cascade and literati style of Chinese penjing, which have the most unusual and refreshing quality. The sharp angular shape of the trunk and the sweeping curves of the branches resemble the brushstrokes peculiar to Chinese paintings.

Since Chinese penjing, landscape painting, and poetry are intimately linked, it is important for a penjing artist to study poetry and painting, especially landscape painting in order to create high quality penjing.

Landscape paintings of Tang Yin(唐寅)aka Tang Bohu (唐伯虎)(1470-1523)- a Chinese scholar, painter, calligrapher, and poet of the Ming Dynasty period

Landscape bonsai / penjing of Zhao Qing Quan (赵庆泉) – one of the best known penjing artists to Western audiences, pioneer of water-and-land penjing (Check out this post – Making My Water-and-Land Penjing (Part 1) to learn how to make a water-and-land penjing)

Continue from Making My Water-and-Land Penjing (Part 1), let me show you how to make the land of my water-and-land penjing in this post.

First of all, make sure the land part of the water-and-land penjing has a drainage hole.  (Sorry, I should have mentioned this earlier in Making My Water-and-Land Penjing (Part 1) for we would need this to be ready before creating our rocky shorefront )  Properly cover the drainage hole with a drainage mesh  so to prevent soil from falling through the hole.

We usually use odd number of trees in water-and-land penjing as well as forest bonsai.  When we pick the trees for our bonsai, make sure we pick trees with a variety of heights.  In the nature, there are trees of different heights.  There are some tall, old trees, while there are some short, young ones.  Plus, our penjing will look so boring if all the trees have the same height.   In addition, make sure we pick 1-2 trees that are especially tall.  They will be the “main trees” in our water-and-land penjing.

Trim off the root ball of our trees, or else our trees wouldn’t be able to fit into the shallow container of our water-and-land penjing.  Here, I trimmed off as much as 60-70% of the root balls.

Next, we need to design the tree placement to get the most natural looking arrangement. In general, we put the main tree(s) in the center area so to let it grab most of the attention.

Once we have confirmed on the placement of our trees, we add soil.  A chopstick will be very helpful here.  Poke around with your chopstick and make sure there is no gap in between trees that is not filled with soil.  And since we have cut off much of the roots, we need to trim off some foliage of the trees as well, so to make it easier for our trees to adapt and grow in their new home.

This is my water-and-land penjing.  Because the sun has been very strong in Hong Kong lately, I have already had my penjing in a shady area for 3 weeks, and probably will keep it in the shade for another week before bringing it out to the full sun.  Later, I will also trim and train the branches so to arrange the density of the foliage and make the penjing look better

For those who are not familiar with water-and-land penjing (水旱盆景, shuihan penjing),  you can check out this post – The Main Categories of Chinese Bonsai (Penjing) – to learn more about the three main categories of Penjing.

And here, let me show you how to make a water-and-land penjing.

First, we build a shore front with stones to separate the land and the water in our penjing.  In class, we used the small stones that we bought in Yingde (if you wonder what kind of place is Yingde, check out this post – Rocks for Landscape Penjing (Bonsai)).  Try to show the best side of the rocks by having the most attractive parts of the rocks facing front. In addition, a curvy shoreline with different elevations looks more natural and interesting than one that is  straight and flat

Then, we add the glue – cement!  Don’t move away the whole set of rocks, but do this one piece at a time.  Or else you will forget the composition and can’t put the rocks back to how you have first designed them to be.

Put a layer of cement that is thick enough to block all the holes and cracks between the rocks.  This is a very important step because we have to ensure that no water or soil can leak out through the cracks between the rocks.

After we have glued all rocks with cement, we let the cement dry out for a while first, maybe 15-20 minutes.  Then we use a small paintbrush and water to clean up the excess cement on the rocks.

The less noticeable the cement is the better.  We basically want to blend the cement with the rocks so that one cannot really tell where the cement is added when she/he is looking at the water-and-land penjing later.

And here I have the shoreline of my water-and-land penjing done.  In the next post, I will show you how I made the “land” part of my water-and-land penjing.

It’s crazy how fast my Chinese elm (榆樹 in Chinese) is growing. Last month, I wired this branch of my Chinese elm right before two weeks of rainy days. When I went back and checked the wiring two weeks later, I found that the branch had already been embedded deeply into the bark

I quickly went to the other end of my bonsai rack and checked my Surinam cherry (aka red Brazil cherry, 紅果 in Chinese) which also had a branch wired on the same day as the Chinese elm. And I was so relieved when I found that the Surinam cherry was totally fine, looking more or less like how it was two weeks ago.

Here, I have learned two lessons.

One: Some trees grow incredibly fast, especially those in its growing season with proper care, regular watering and fertilization. We should keep a close eye on the fast growing trees such as Chinese elm and Fukien Tea so that we can react right away to any small damage we find on the bark.

Two: Bonsai wires should not be tied too tightly around the branch or twig of our bonsai tree. Wiring two or three times in succession won’t harm our bonsai tree. Yet, we will harm our tree if we have to tear out the wire that has been embedded into the bark.

Ok, lessons are learned but damage is irreversible.    Now I just hope that the scar will recover and look less obvious as time goes by.

I took a forest bonsai class earlier this month and this is the first forest bonsai I have ever made. And yes, I love my work and am proud of it.

We were given seven pine trees, a marble slab, a bonsai figurine, a piece of bonsai pot drainage mesh, and a rubber strap. The rubber strap is used to wrap around the soil to prevent it from falling apart. The strap can be removed once the root systems of the trees have grabbed the soil strong and tight enough.

I spent quite a lot time thinking about tree placement to get the most natural looking arrangement. For example, during the class, Teacher Wong kept reminding us that trees in a forest bonsai should not fall directly behind one another when viewed from the front. It wasn’t as easy as it sounded, for there were seven pines we had to arrange on a small little marble slab. Moreover, we also needed to leave a clear area for the cow figurine which we would place after the forest bonsai was made.

After we had designed the tree arrangement for our forest bonsai and got approved by Teacher Wong, we added in soil and moss. Then, we watered our forest bonsai thoroughly once they were made, as soon as possible.

I am currently keeping my forest bonsai under my bonsai rack.  Our newly made forest bonsai should be kept under shade with indirect sunlight for at least two weeks, and gradually expose the forest bonsai to more and more sun afterward.

Taken in Bonsai Exhibition of 2010 Hong Kong Flower Show

As mentioned in an earlier post – Chinese Penjing & Japanese Bonsai, one of the major difference between Chinese penjing and Japanese bonsai is the scope of these two related art forms. With the meaning of the words – “bonsai” (盆栽) and “penjing” (盆景), it is clear that while the Japanese bonsai is focusing on the creation of a perfect tree, the Chinese penjing is more of reproducing a miniature natural scene. Many of the elaborate tray sceneries created by Chinese artists clearly defy the parameters of bonsai.

So, Chinese penjing is a little less “strict” and often involves the use of rocks, small figurines and mudmans, multiple trees, and water to complete the illusion of a landscape in a bonsai pot or on a marble slab. Little clay structures like huts, pagodas, boats and bridges are also often use in penjing. And with these traces of human existence that are frequently found in many Chinese painting, the close connection between penjing and painting is obvious.

Taken in 2009 Guangzhou Penjing (Bonsai) Exhibition

Taken in 2009 Guangzhou Penjing (Bonsai) Exhibition

Figurines have always had a place in Chinese penjing as an aesthetic contribution. In an effort to capture the realism of a favorite scenic view, an intricate part would involve the use of figurines of people, animals, huts and temples, to give an appearance of great age and size to the miniature forests.

A few days ago, I showed a set of bonsai figurines of the Eight Immortals to a friend from UK. I didn’t expect him to know anything about the Eight Immortals, and I was about to tell him more of this Chinese folklore. Yet, to my surprise, what my British friend knows of this group of legendary fairies is quite a bit, if not more than I do! (My friend later told me that he did a Wikipedia search after he bought a scroll of the Eight Immortals in Shanghai.)

So, the Eight Immortals are characters found in Chinese folklore. They were actually mortal beings until they performed kind deeds, or got into some miraculous accidents. These Eight Immortals represent all kinds of people – rich, poor, young, old, man, woman, military, cultured, noble. Because they are not gods, they can only visit, but not live in Heaven. These Eight Immortals enjoy traveling. They love to get together and roam around, often causing both laughter and troubles. They fight dragons, steal from Gods, enjoy parties and a good drink.

Below is a brief description of each of the Eight Immortals.

Zhang Guo Lao (張果老)

Zhang Guo Lao is represented as an old man riding a white mule with a tube-shaped musical instrument made of bamboo in his hands. This white mule could get Zhang to incredible distances, and be folded into Zhang’s wallet at the end of each journey. Whenever Zhang wanted to travel again, he would sprinkle water on his wallet and the white mule would reappear.

Zhong Li Quan (鐘离權)

Zhong Li Quan is the Chief of the 8 Immortals. He is the fat guy with his bare belly showing. Zhong always carries a fan and sometimes a peach.

Cao Gou Jiu (曹國舅)

Cao Gou Jiu was the brother of the Emperor of the Song Dynasty and the son of a military commander. He is the finest dressed among the eight immortals. He is always shown wearing formal court dress and carrying castinets.

Li Tie Guai (李鐵拐)

Li Tie Guai is depicted as a beggar with a crutch and a gourd. The legend has it that Li had the magical skill of freeing his soul from his body. One day while Li’s spirit was gone from his body, his body was found and mistakenly thought as dead. It was then burned, as was traditional. When Li returned from his travels, he found that he had lost his body and was forced to enter the body of a lame beggar.

Lu Dong Bin (呂洞賓)

Lu Dong Bin was an 8th-century scholar. Upon his back he wears a magic sword that used to slay dragons and demons. In his hand he carries a fly brush.

Lan Cai He (蓝采和)

Lan Cai He is variously portrayed as a youth, sometimes as a boy, other times as a girl. He/She is the strolling singer who often shown wearing blue robe and carrying a basket of flowers.

He Xian Gu (何仙姑)

One day when He Xian Gu was in the mountain collecting herbs, she met Lu Dong Bin who gave her a magic peach. After He ate the peach, she became immortal with the ability to see the future. He is often seen carrying a magical lotus blossom and a fly-whisk.

Han Xiang Zi (韓湘子)

Han Ziang Zi is the Happy Man. He is said to be the nephew of Han Yu, a famous scholar in Tang Dynasty. Han is always seen playing a flute. It is said that Han could make flowers bloom with his will and soothe wild animals with his music.