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Bonsai is a Japanese art form using miniature trees grown in containers. Similar practices exist in other cultures, including the Chinese tradition of ''
Styles can be grouped based on different criteria, such as the trunk orientation or the number of trunks in the bonsai specimen. Some of the major style groupings include:
* Trunk orientation. A frequently used set of styles describe the orientation of the bonsai tree's main trunk. Different terms are used for a tree with its apex directly over the center of the trunk's entry into the soil (these are the upright styles, including ''chokkan'' and ''moyogi''), slightly to the side of that center (e.g., ''sho-shakan''), deeply inclined to one side (e.g., ''chu-shakan'' and ''dai-shakan''), and inclined below the point at which the trunk of the bonsai enters the soil (the cascade or ''kengai'' styles).
* Trunk and bark surface. A number of styles describe the trunk shape and bark finish. For example, a bonsai with a twisted trunk is ''nebikan'' (also ''nejikan'' (ねじ幹)), and one with a vertical split or hollows is ''sabakan''. The deadwood bonsai styles identify trees with prominent dead branches or trunk scarring.
* Trunk and root placement. Although most bonsai trees are planted directly into the soil, there are styles describing trees planted on rock. For example, the root-over rock style is ''deshojo'' (出猩々), and the style in which trees are rooted wholly within (atop or on the sides of) a large rock is ''ishizuki''.
* Multiple trunks. While the majority of bonsai specimens feature a single tree, there are well-established style categories for specimens with multiple trunks. Within these styles, a bonsai can be classified by number of trunks alone (e.g., ''sokan'' for a double trunk from a single root, ''soju'' for two separate trees, ''sambon-yose'' for three trees, and so on). The configuration of the trunks can also be described by specific styles, including raft (''ikadabuji'' or ''ikadabuki'') and sinuous (''netsunagari'') styles for multiple trees growing from a connected root, and the general term ''yose-ue'' for multiple unconnected trees in large number.
These terms are not mutually exclusive, and a single bonsai specimen can exhibit more than one style characteristic. When a bonsai specimen falls into multiple style categories, the common practice is to describe it by the dominant or most striking characteristic. For example, an informal upright tree with prominent areas of missing bark and trunk scarring will be described as a ''sharimiki'' rather than a ''moyogi''.
File:Bonsai streng aufrechte Form.svg, Upright or ''chokkan'' style
File:Bonsai locker aufrechte Form.svg, Informal upright style or ''moyogi'' style
File:Bonsai windgepeitschte Form.svg, Slanted or ''shakan'' style
File:Bonsai Kaskaden-Form.svg, Cascade or ''kengai'' style
File:Bonsai Halbkaskaden-Form.svg, Semi-cascade or ''han kengai'' style
File:Bonsai Besen-Form.svg, Broom or ''hokidachi'' style
File:Bonsai Doppelstamm-Form.svg, Multi-trunk or ''sokan'' style (twin-trunk style in this example)
File:Bonsai Literaten-Form.svg, Literati or ''bunjin-gi'' style
penjing
''Penjing'', also known as ''penzai'', is the ancient Chinese art of depicting artistically formed trees, other plants, and landscapes in miniature.
Penjing generally fall into one of three categories:
* Shumu penjing (樹木盆景): Tree penjin ...
'' from which the art originated, and the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese ''hòn non bộ'', but this article describes the Japanese tradition.
The Japanese art of bonsai dates back over a thousand years, and has evolved its own unique aesthetics and terminology. A key design practice in bonsai is a set of commonly understood, named styles that describe canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western ca ...
ical tree and setting designs. These well-known styles provide a convenient shorthand means for communicating about existing bonsai and for designing new ones.
Concept of styles
Styles can be grouped based on different criteria, such as the trunk orientation or the number of trunks in the bonsai specimen. Some of the major style groupings include:
* Trunk orientation. A frequently used set of styles describe the orientation of the bonsai tree's main trunk. Different terms are used for a tree with its apex directly over the center of the trunk's entry into the soil (these are the upright styles, including ''chokkan'' and ''moyogi''), slightly to the side of that center (e.g., ''sho-shakan''), deeply inclined to one side (e.g., ''chu-shakan'' and ''dai-shakan''), and inclined below the point at which the trunk of the bonsai enters the soil (the cascade or ''kengai'' styles).
* Trunk and bark surface. A number of styles describe the trunk shape and bark finish. For example, a bonsai with a twisted trunk is ''nebikan'' (also ''nejikan'' (ねじ幹)), and one with a vertical split or hollows is ''sabakan''. The deadwood bonsai styles identify trees with prominent dead branches or trunk scarring.
* Trunk and root placement. Although most bonsai trees are planted directly into the soil, there are styles describing trees planted on rock. For example, the root-over rock style is ''deshojo'' (出猩々), and the style in which trees are rooted wholly within (atop or on the sides of) a large rock is ''ishizuki''.
* Multiple trunks. While the majority of bonsai specimens feature a single tree, there are well-established style categories for specimens with multiple trunks. Within these styles, a bonsai can be classified by number of trunks alone (e.g., ''sokan'' for a double trunk from a single root, ''soju'' for two separate trees, ''sambon-yose'' for three trees, and so on). The configuration of the trunks can also be described by specific styles, including raft (''ikadabuji'' or ''ikadabuki'') and sinuous (''netsunagari'') styles for multiple trees growing from a connected root, and the general term ''yose-ue'' for multiple unconnected trees in large number.
These terms are not mutually exclusive, and a single bonsai specimen can exhibit more than one style characteristic. When a bonsai specimen falls into multiple style categories, the common practice is to describe it by the dominant or most striking characteristic. For example, an informal upright tree with prominent areas of missing bark and trunk scarring will be described as a ''sharimiki'' rather than a ''moyogi''.
Purposes
The system of styles serves many purposes, some practical, some aesthetic. In their simplest and most common application, styles provide a form of shorthand description for bonsai specimens. The brief style term appears in catalog descriptions, usually with a species identifier, and thereby compactly describes the subject bonsai. Style names can also be used to group comparable specimens in bonsai viewing and competition. Even considering the styles simply as descriptive labels, the system still simplifies bonsai teaching and learning, and provides widely understood terms for public communications about bonsai. Predefined styles also aid the designer in making a development plan for a pre-bonsai tree. The untrained specimen may have characteristics that suggest or rule out certain styles. For example, a crooked trunk makes a tree unsuitable for the formal upright style, and suggests to the designer that the tree may be trained better as an informal upright or a slanted style instead. A damaged or highly asymmetrical tree may not appear suitable for bonsai development, yet may be adapted to an uncommon style like windswept or raft, which both work for trees that have branches only on one side of the trunk. Some tree species are not suitable for some styles: a bonsai artist working with a deciduous tree will not produce bonsai in the cascade style, for example. The designer can evaluate the pre-bonsai specimen against the catalog of accepted styles to determine what branches to remove or reshape, what foliage to remove or encourage, and what detailed shaping to apply to trunk and branches. Although the styles will guide a bonsai designer, they are not completely deterministic. A review of actual bonsai from competition catalogs will reveal that even highly regarded specimens rarely meet every rule laid out for their style. The species of the bonsai, the age of the tree when it began bonsai training, the tree's pre-existing shape and structure, even the bonsai artist's training and preferences, strongly affect the shape of the resulting bonsai. These competing influences ensure that the style system acts mostly as a creative aid, not a dominating constraint, in producing a finished bonsai.Catalog of styles
Common styles
See also
* Bonsai aesthetics - aesthetics of Japanese bonsai * Bonsai cultivation and care - cultivation and care of small, container-grown trees *Deadwood bonsai techniques
Deadwood bonsai techniques are methods in the Japanese art of bonsai (cultivation of miniature trees in containers) that create, shape, and preserve dead wood on a living bonsai tree. They enhance the illusion of age and the portrayal of austerit ...
- description of deadwood techniques and effects in small trees
* Penjing
''Penjing'', also known as ''penzai'', is the ancient Chinese art of depicting artistically formed trees, other plants, and landscapes in miniature.
Penjing generally fall into one of three categories:
* Shumu penjing (樹木盆景): Tree penjin ...
– Chinese precursor to bonsai
* Saikei
literally translates as "planted landscape". Saikei is a descendant of the Japanese arts of bonsai, bonseki, and bonkei, and is related less directly to similar miniature-landscape arts like the Chinese '' penjing'' and the Vietnamese ''hòn no ...
– tray gardens using bonsai
* Indoor bonsai - cultivation and care of trees grown indoors in containers
References
{{Reflist, colwidth=30em Bonsai