Attila

Rockm,

I like the article you've linked, and the idea behind the american bonsai garden.

And the thought that bonsai doesn't have to be Japanese anymore.

Most recently, after reading the latest Bonsai Today, I've found myself in a dilemma. In the "letters from readers" section, there is one gentleman who makes his remarks in reference to a past article about using figurines in bonsai. He goes on saying that he liked the article very much BUT using figurines with bonsai is an absolute no-no. That's because we should respect the bonsai tradition which strongly discourages the use of figurines. He states that the bonsai is entirely a Japanese concept because they made it their own by molding it with their distictively unique culture (he used different words, but this is the point he is making).
So, what he is saying is that if we want to have any respect for the bonsai tradition, we have to create bonsai according to the Japanese guidelines.
If we disregard that tradition, then we should not call it bonsai. It's not about what we create, but it's all about how we call it. We can call it penjing, or plant art, or whatever, but we can't call it bonsai.

So, as I was reading this letter, I felt a strong repulsion toward the idea the someone should tell me to follow a certain tradition when creating my bonsai. But I have to admit that he has a point. It is true that the Japanese "borrowed" the original concept from the Chinese, and they "disrespected" the Chinese tradition by changing it according to their own whims and pleasures. But it is also true that they gave it a new name (did not call it penjing anymore) and they created a whole new vocabulary alongside it.

The conflict I feel is that now we are stepping into the picture and feel the need to change the Japanese bonsai according to our own taste, but we are still using the japanese name and japanese terminology.

May be the solution is that if we really want to have our own way, we may need to give it a name that is our own, and stop using anything that has to do with Japan. Having our own names and definitions, nobody can blame or attack us that we are disrespecting anything. This would end the "traditionalists vs. modernists" discussion as well, and such accusations (seen not so long ago) as "this is not a bonsai, this is a mess (see: Reiner Goebel on one of Nick Lenz's trees).
If we keep calling our trees "bonsai", we will always be vulnerable to critics using standards that in some cases are totally irrelevant.

Curious what you guys think,

Attila