| "A house without a garden is a
thing that hardly exists in Japan; and even in the larger cities, however
small the amount of available space may be, it is certain to be turned
into a complete garden, with roads, water-basins, rocks, bridges, etc.
The peculiar style of gardening was originally introduced from Corea
[sic], and is apparently connected with the principles of ancient
Chinese philosophy concerning the harmony of nature. There are certain
rules by which gardeners are guided, and which have evidently been established
by persons who were close observers not only of nature, but also of the
sentiments and impressions produced by nature on man. A Japanese
gardener designates his work by the term 'San-sui' (i.e., mountains and
water), a word having special reference to the peculiar arrangement of
the gardens, which are laid out with a view of reproducing even on the
smallest scale a complete landscape, with all the accessories needed to
produce variety or rural retirement. It must not, however, be supposed
that this system consists exclusively in the construction of those miniature
gardens which have been so often described and pictured in foreign books
on Japan and China. Wherever the amount of space is large enough,
the gardens are laid out on an extensive scale..."
"No matter how small may be the garden, this principle of producing the impression of a real landscape is always observed; but of course everything, the hills, the rocks, the lakes, bridges, etc., have to be reduced to smaller dimensions, and it is quite natural that the Japanese gardeners should also have reduced old trees of all kinds to miniature dimensions. These strange products of horticulture called 'dwarf trees' [sic], often 150 or 200 years old, with big trunks only a few feet high, and with exactly the same shape as any forest tree, would of course appear ridiculous in a large garden side by side with old full grown trees. But if they be put in their right place, with surroundings that are in harmony with the principles which led to the production of these extraordinary works of horticultural skill, the impression made will be entirely different. That certain principles of quite an ethic nature [sic] form the ground work of the art of gardening, is a peculiar fact which can be seen even in the smallest details..." "These landscape gardens, as we may call them, are even constructed within the narrow limits of bronze or porcelain basins, and the jardinieres which are placed in the rooms often contain a whole rocky landscape, with mosses, various grasses, small bamboos and dwarf trees. "This peculiar taste for impressions such as are produced by nature when seen in a landscape, may suffice to explain the reasons why the cultivation of evergreen trees and shrubs, which are very abundant, and the production of certain plants remarkable for their peculiar foliage, are greatly preferred to the cultivation of flowers, whose beauty soon fades, whereas the foliage may be enjoyed throughout the whole year..." 1 |
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1 Official Catalogue of the Japanese Section, International Exhibition, 1876; Philadelphia: Published by the Japanese Commission, Printed by W.P. Kildare, 1876, pp. 114-115. It is interesting to note that while
the term "San-sui" is used here (and "cha-no-yu" elsewhere for 'tea parties'),
"bon-sai" is not specifically employed to describe the 'dwarf trees.'
The term "bon-sai" was in use in Japan since around 1800 when it was adopted
by persons interested in Chinese art and literature to specify the "hachi-no-ki"
(tree growing in a bowl) which they were designing. Although
the art had undergone several stages of development by 1876, could it be
that an official name for 'dwarf trees' in general was not yet agreed upon
by the time of this International Exhibition?
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