Any Interest in a Really Good Penjing Book?

Robert Cho has been a friend of mine for almost a decade, and something of an informal mentor. He has been in the business end of bonsai his whole life, and is one of the few remaining importers of trees from China to the USA. If you've ever bought a mallsai other than a juniper, you've bought one of his trees, but he also imports a number of truly world-class trees. He owns and operates Asia Pacific Gardening, over near Seattle, about a 90 minute drive from me. He's also quite connected within the Penjing world, bringing in masters for demos in the US and such.

Over the years I've gone over and hung around with him in his tropical greenhouse, occasionally working on trees together, where he taught me a fair amount about Penjing, which was my first love in bonsai styling, and which is still an influence since it blends easily with the naturalistic style I focus on now.

Robert has also turned me on to a few fabulous, photo-heavy books from China that he occasionally imports. Most are all in Chinese, which I don't read or speak. They are, almost exclusively, the only bonsai books I ever look at anymore. I find the trees in them very inspiring.

Robert has approached me a few times since the publication of Gnarly Branches, pointing out the almost complete vacuum regarding English-language books on Penjing, and asking if I might consider writing and photographing and publishing a definitive volume to fill the void. We both agree that the few Penjing-related books available don't even begin to bring this art to life for the West.

We discussed this project again the other day, and my feelings are quite mixed about such a huge undertaking. There is certainly, in my mind, a great need for such a book, but this need may not be felt at all among the hobbyists in the US or the West in general. The work and time and expense would be quite considerable, of course, as someone can only truly know who has done such a thing, and I wonder if there is really enough interest to make it worthwhile. So I thought I'd see what you all here in the BNut community thought of such an idea.

All thoughts welcome, and TIA.

I would buy it

I would buy it.

will, i would be interested

Where do I order?

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Qingquan "Brook" Zhao's "World of Wonderment" book was a landmark when it was released back in the late 90's early oughts. The book showed only one a particular land and water Penjing style though. Penjing is much deeper than that. A book explaining some of the thought and history behind some of the styles and techniques I think would sell.

I would surely be interested. Opening minds and eyes to different styles, can only help further education.

Thanks, everyone, and I hope to hear from others as well.

Stacy Allen Muse, thanks for the well-described reply. I probably know and have some of those books, and, as I've said, they are really the only books I ever look at anymore for pleasure or inspiration. The great Penjing are so different from the prevailing Japanese and Western styles that I've often thought it would be a revelation to simply put a few side by side comparison photos together on page. I really doubt most people in bonsai have seen the magic in these trees, nor understood how it is done and why.

Thanks again everyone.

I'd want one too. I love Chinese style penjing. I have all the known English language penjing books. Yours would make a nice addition.

I first saw penjings in a big bonsai show in Hong Kong in 1995, and I am still inspired by the pictures of those trees.

Are the below the kinds of things that you guys are referring to when you say "Penjing" ? (found via a Chinese language search of "penjing")

Heaven's no! Looks like you'll have to buy the book! (In 3+ years! )

Sounds like a plan! Yeah, as the Chinese use the word, I think "penjing" is pretty much equivalent to our English use of the word bonsai. I'll be looking forward to buying your book and seeing what "Penjing" as an English language word really is.

Put me on the waiting list!

How would Robert Steven's books (vision of my soul ), fit into this?

I know the first volumne sold pretty well but the second book not so much. Of course there was baggage tied to it and that could have been some of the problem.

Would Robert Stevens books be considered penjing? I personaly don't like his style, but I know there are many who do.

How many books does one have to sell to be successful?

daygan said:

Sounds like a plan! Yeah, as the Chinese use the word, I think "penjing" is pretty much equivalent to our English use of the word bonsai. I'll be looking forward to buying your book and seeing what "Penjing" as an English language word really is.

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Pensai is really the progenitor to bonsai .... as it is a single tree planting ... however Penjing (pronounced "pawn-jing") is fairly commonly used to cover the whole gamut of the Chinese artistry .... of course that is only my understanding of the differences and like many things could be helplessly wrong ....

@Will -- You might have to make a trip to China you know wouldn't that be horrible

Ang3lfir3 said:

Penjing (pronounced "pawn-jing") is fairly commonly used to cover the whole gamut of the Chinese artistry ....

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Cool. That makes sense. It does seem that doing a search for 盆景 (penjing) produces results within the whole gamut.

@Will -- You might have to make a trip to China you know wouldn't that be horrible

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And let me say now that I'd love to ride along and maybe do translating if that were to ever happen!

I would be interested. Keep us updated

I feel my hands are sort of tied: I could probably settle the burning question at hand - What is penjing, and how is it so different? - with the posting a few simple photos scanned in from the Chinese books and magazines in my possession, but they are not mine to post, and being an author and photographer myself now, I understand exactly why such piracy is wrong (even if the Chinese in general don't even blink at trademark, copyright and patent violations).

I've never seen much in the way of photos online that compare to the truly magical trees captured in the best of books, but the Man Lung site can at least give a glimpse. The site reflects the school that has grown out of the famous collection of trees created by Mr. Wu Yee-sun, a Hong Kong banker for whom the art was a hobby. They may, at the site, also tell you the machinations you can go through to obtain a book about his trees - it will also offer a small glimpse of the art, but very limited, and it's not a very well done book compared to what's out there in China in Chinese, and compared to what I would hope to bring to the English-speaking world.

I've never considered Robert Stevens trees to be Penjing, nor Amy Liang's, nor many Chinese trees made by Chinese artists obviously influenced by the Japanese. The Chinese-language books I've talked of are almost always broken down by regions, and some regions have clearly "gone over to the dark side" regarding Japanese styling - especially those with a history of more pervasive Japanese occupation during WWII, and sometimes those with more outside trade and hence more desire to present bonsai that might be judged well on the world stage, which Penjing are typically not.

I spent a bit of time in several parts of China back in the day, long before I was interested in bonsai. It would be interesting to go there again and see the changes there, and fascinating to research and photograph such a book over there, although I might get someone else to do much of the photography since it requires a huge amount of "Waiting for the proper lighting conditions" the way I do it, and I cannot take that kind of time away from my practice these days. My guess is that it will be a very collaborative project, and that Robert Cho wants me to focus on the researching and writing that would appeal to an English-speaking readership, and maybe merely select and oversee or coordinate the photography with a photographer there. That would be much more doable. That's how it looks for this "just thinking about it and haven't decided yet" vantage point.

Daygan, When I answered, "Heavens, no!" to your question about those trees last night, the third image was not there. It would classify in my mind as a Penjing of a certain school, modestly well-done, and at least somewhat attractive, but clearly far from a great example. Thanks for posting those.