Bonsai Northwest Melbourne Established: 1973 February 2019 Newsletter A-19332L In this Issue: Next meeting - 4 February 2019 - Workshop  Next meeting Welcome back everyone to a brand new year of bonsai at Bonsai Northwest Inc!  Membership renewals Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year break and your bonsai have flourished.  Hanh's bend-em twist-em follow up This month we’ll be having a workshop. Just a reminder on how workshops are conducted: if you bring along your tree, remember to bring your own tools and wire so  Shane Boyce VTP March that you can work on your tree once you’ve received advice/instructions/ideas on what 2019 meeting to do by our experienced member. The experienced members are there to guide you  AGM, BBQ and auction on your tree only, which then allows them to continue to move around the room and help others. This will allow everyone a chance at seeking advice and guidance.  Lessons from Japanese Garden Design Part 1 The Library will be open from 7pm and will close at 8pm. Please return books and magazines from your holiday reading. Remember it’s free to borrow from the library, but we will charge you late fees if you don’t return your items. The Sales table will be Club Details open. www.bonsainorthwest.com.au [email protected] PO Box 1091 Niddrie Victoria 3042

President: David Nassar Contact: Barry 0422 619 641

Meetings are held at the Aberfeldie Community Club, 7B Batman St Essendon at 7:30pm on the first Monday of the month (no meeting in January) Social Media Click on icon to access:

Membership renewals Thank you to all who paid on time at the December Meeting and online over Christmas. Memberships are now overdue. Please pay at the February meeting if you have not yet paid. Alternatively, direct debit with you surname as reference to: Bonsai Northwest Bendigo Bank BSB 633-000 A/C 147463939 bonsai_northwest We don’t want to be chasing you on workshop nights as it means less time helping members with their trees.

Hanh's bend-em twist-em follow up For the members who participated in our Bend-em Twist-em sessions with Hahn last year, bring your pines in so Hahn can show us the next steps to creating a Bonsai. We will keep a table clear at the start of the workshop night for us.

Shane Boyce VTP March 2019 meeting The club is bringing out Shane Boyce from Tasmania as part of the AABC Visiting Tutor programme in March 2019. Please see attached biography on Shane for more information. Shane is conducting workshops on Sunday March 3rd. We are taking bookings for 9am-12pm and 1-4pm. There is a maximum of 6 people per session to get plenty of time for Shane to see everyone. Workshop fees are $30 each. Club member observers are free, non-members $5. Call or text (0422 619641 Barry) or reply email the club to secure your spot. There are only 12 workshop positions, so don't hold back. Get in early!

AGM, BBQ and auction Wow, what a December 2018 meeting we had! 95 members attended the final meeting of 2018 where our AGM took place, followed by a fantastic free BBQ and then closed the night off with auctioning off bonsai items. What a night!! The food was fabulous and thank you to all the volunteers for helping prepare, cook and bake wonderful dishes.

Sponsors:

Ology.net.au - Damian 0412 698 259

Shane Boyce 27 Talbot Rd South Launceston, Tas.,7249 [email protected]

Shane Boyce Bio 2019

My Bonsai obsession started with great enthusiasm in 1982. I went on to study advanced Bonsai techniques with Dorothy Koreshoff and gained my Nippon Bonsai accreditation in 2001.

I was an active committee member of the Bonsai Society of Western Australia for 12 years where I conducted many demonstrations and workshops. I was a solo demonstrator at the AABC 2001 Seminar in Perth W.A., as well as being the demonstrators’ assistant with many National and International visiting tutors over the years. I have been travelling to bonsai conventions nationally and internationally since 1995. Favouring the Chinese Penjing philosophy of ‘less is more’, I travel to China regularly to attend conventions and study with Penjing Masters.

Upon relocating to Tasmania in 2007 I became a member of the Launceston Bonsai Workshop where I was previously Club Secretary, I am now the President. In 2013 I launched The Bonsai School of Tasmania where I conduct public demonstrations, classes and workshops. I am regularly invited to demonstrate Bonsai at Garden Shows including Entally Garden Fest, the Hobart Garden Symposium and the Blooming Tasmania Festival as well as giving shorter talks and demos at local garden club meetings.

I have a strong grounding in horticulture having been in the industry since 1978 and a qualified Horticulturalist since 1983. In 2014 I added Certificate Level Horticulture Trainer to my list of accomplishments and I have been teaching ever since. I approach the arts of Penjing and Bonsai with a horticultural perspective in mind combining both arts with my horticulture knowledge to create and grow unique trees.

In 2016 I won the Runner-Up award for one of my Penjing settings in the Chinese Garden of Friendship Penjing National Photo Competition, which was judged by a panel of Penjing Masters in China.

I have a relaxed, confident and entertaining presence in front of an audience. Skilled in combining PowerPoint media and live plants in a presentation, I can conduct workshops to suit all levels of experience. My approach to the art of Bonsai/Penjing is kept simple and uncomplicated.

Special Subjects

While my personal favourite styles are Literati, Twin Trunk and Penjing/Saikei landscapes, I can and do, work with all styles. I am capable of, and happy to, step outside of the ‘triangle’!

Classes I Workshops I Demonstrations I Private Consultancy I A.A.B.C. Visiting Tutor I Certified Horticulture Trainer

Lessons from Japanese Garden Design by Ian Barnes Part 1

Gardening in Japan has long been a form of artistic expression, using nature imagery as a vehicle. Like painting or sculpture (or indeed, bonsai), gardening is a means of giving physical, sensory form to emotional or spiritual matters.

Garden design in Japan has evolved over a 1500 year history. Within that long history, the confluence of complex changes in society, politics, religion, architecture and aesthetics gave rise to new forms of gardens and, more importantly, new ways of perceiving what a garden is – perceptions from which we can draw inspiration for our own creative works in bonsai.

History  10,000-300BC Jomon period Hunter/gatherer society. Animistic perception of the natural world.

 330BC-300AD Yayoi period Wet rice farming. Bronze and iron implements. Wheel-thrown pottery.

 300-552 Kofun period Social order based on clans; imperial line emerges from one clan.

 552-710 Asuka period Buddhism and Chinese culture imported into Japan.

 710-794 Nara period Development of Shinden architecture. Gardens of nobles modelled on Chinese and Korean forms.

 794-1185 Heian period Influence of Geomancy, poetic imagery, Chinese painting, Paradise images. Pond and island style gardens in Shinden residences of aristocrats. Paradise gardens within temples of Pure Land Buddhism.

 1185-1333 Kamakura period Development of Castle Towns. Influence of Chinese Literati and Ch’an/Zen Buddhism.

 1333-1568 Muromachi period Development of Shoin style architecture and the Hojo garden. Dry landscape gardens of Zen Temples and Samurai residences. Contemplation garden.

 1568-1600 Momoyama period Development of Sukiya style architecture. Development of tea ceremony. Tea garden.

 1600-1868 Edo period Influence of Neo-Confucianism. Rise of a merchant culture. Development of Machiya architecture (townhouses). Tsubo (courtyard) garden. Stroll garden. Hermitage garden (gardens in retreats built by former samurai turned scholars, priests and tea masters).

 Modern era: 1868-1912 Meiji period Westernisation of Japan. Many stroll gardens become public parks. 1912-1926 Taisho period 1926-1989 Showa period 1989~ Heisei period Japanese Garden Categories There are 8 broad categories of Japanese garden. They are: the Heian estate garden; the paradise garden; the dry landscape garden; the contemplation garden; the tea garden; the courtyard garden; the stroll garden; and the hermitage garden. Let us look at the typical elements and identifying features of each, by giving a brief commentary on a classic example of each category.

(As you read the following descriptions, think about the various underlying design principles and how they may be applied to your bonsai).

The Heian Estate Garden During the Heian period (794-1185), nobles perfected a style of estate architecture known as shinden-zukuri (“sleeping-hall architecture”), which consisted of lavish halls and annexes, fronted by large courtyard gardens, and overlooking grand ponds designed to be viewed from shore-side platforms and pavilions. There are no extant gardens from this period. What we know is surmised from images preserved in literature and paintings and from recent excavations. A compilation of all these sources suggests the following layout for a typical shinden-zukuri estate:

1. Western Gate 2. Fishing Pavilion (tsuri dono) 3. Corridor with inner gate (chūmonrō) 4. West Hall (nishi tainoya) 5. Master’s Hall (shinden) 6. Southern Court (nantei) 7. East Hall (higashi tainoya) 8. Winding Stream 9. Corridor with inner gate (chūmonrō) 10. Eastern Gate 11. Wellspring Pavilion (izumi dono) 12. Arched Bridge (soribashi) 13. Central Island (nakajima) 14. Pond

The estate centred on the south-facing Main Hall, or shinden (“sleeping-hall”). The master and his family slept in the shinden, which also doubled as the audience chamber for public functions. Around the front of the Main Hall ran a narrow verandah, which was protected from the elements by the overhanging eaves. A flight of stairs led from the audience chamber to the gravel courtyard below.

On either side and to the north of the shinden were tainoya or minor halls. The various halls and annexes were linked to each other by roofed breezeways, and long open-sided corridors (chūmonrō). The Western and Eastern Corridors flanked the Southern Courtyard (nantei), and ran southward to the garden pavilions, arbours and boating pond. These corridors could be enclosed with wooden shutters when weather was inclement, and their gates provided access to the courtyard. Various out-buildings and food gardens filled the area to the north of the shinden and its annexes, and the entire complex was surrounded by a solid rammed-earth wall. Two main gates were set into the perimeter wall.

To the south of the Main Hall lay an open flat area spread with fine gravel or sand called the nantei (“southern garden”) and south of this lay the ornamental pond garden. The courtyard itself was the venue for all manner of formal events such as poetry contests and festival gatherings, so there were few if any plantings in this area, with the exception of two ceremonial trees planted either side of the central stairway – a cherry tree to the east and a citrus tree to the west. The deciduous cherry has a very short blossoming period, which was thought to represent in, or the feminine element. The citrus tree, an evergreen, represented yō, or the masculine element. The garden, which was the primary focus of the halls and pavilions, occupied about a third of the entire area. At the centre of the garden was a large pond fed by a winding stream that ran from the north or rear of the property. Typically, the stream flowed beneath a curved bridge in the roofed breezeway connecting the Main Hall and the East Annex, and down to the pond. The pond contained a central island (nakajima) reached by arched, lacquered bridges (soribashi). It was also common to find a fishing pavilion and a wellspring arbour built out over the water.

There is some debate whether aristocrats actually toured their gardens by boat, or simply viewed the pageantry of lavish floating stages with musicians and entertainers from the comfort and safety of the Southern Courtyard or the various pavilions overlooking the pond.

The Paradise Garden The aristocracy of the late Heian period (794-1185) began building Buddhist temple complexes around pond gardens in imitation of their private estates, to accrue much needed positive karma. Called jōdo-teien, (“Pure Land Paradise Garden”), it was a representation of the palatial pond garden of Amida Buddha, located somewhere far to the west, at the very edge of the world. “Amida Buddha’s Western Paradise Pure Land” is usually presented in a garden as a middle island in a large pond, connected to the surrounding shoreline by several bridges that symbolise the potential for salvation. In particular, the pond represents the lotus pond in the original paradise where the dead are reborn.

The most celebrated example of a jōdo-teien is at Byōdō-in, near Kyoto. Originally constructed as a villa for Fujiwara no Yorimichi (992-1074), it was converted into a Buddhist temple in 1052. The main hall, known as The Phoenix Hall, and its reflecting pond were originally designed to symbolise the Pure Land Paradise of Amida Buddha. Inside the Hall was a large statue of Buddha; since cosmological considerations required it to face east, the entire complex was orientated east-west. The Buddha statue was worshipped from a platform in the pond, the worshipper thus facing due west, the direction in which the Pure Land of Amida was believed to lie. The pond has changed shape a number of times in its history, but continues to fulfil its original function – to mirror in its waters the elegant symmetry of the temple architecture.

Plan of Byōdō-in. The right angles of the Phoenix Hall are reflected in the man-made water-lily pond. This contrast between the right angle and the irregular forms of cultivated nature expresses the aesthetic principle underlying the garden as a whole.

Heian Aesthetics Miyabi ~ elegance and refined taste. In all aspects of the imperial court culture (knowledge of literature, musical ability, understanding of court protocol, clothing, physical deportment), fluid grace and a sensitivity to the uttermost detail were essential. Mujo ~ impermanence or transience. A concept derived from Buddhism; all things fade and pass with time. Thus, a lingering sense of melancholy pervades the arts of the day. Aware (“ah-wah-reh”) ~ the heightened awareness of things; the intense emotion felt in response to beauty. Kisetsu ~ living in tune with the seasons. Shotoku no sansui ~ mountain-water of living nature. A garden should be created in the likeness of real nature. Kohan ni shitagau ~ following the request. When building a garden stream, an island or a waterfall, it is vital to “follow” the “request” of rocks already on site. A precondition of true creativity was the ability to achieve an inner stillness and emptiness within which their “requests” could be heard. Suchigaete ~ asymmetrical or off-balance. The asymmetry of nature is set against the symmetry of the man-made artefact (the shinden-style palace). Fuzei ~ a breeze of feeling. The aesthetic spirit of a particular place.

During the Heian period, the lingering sadness of aware and the stately elegance of miyabi were undoubtedly applied to garden design. Garden designers strove to become one with nature and then follow its requests. Garden design was the empathetic imitation of the external forms of nature. The Dry Landscape Garden Known as kare-sansui (“dry or withered mountains and water”), the dry landscape garden is the most widely known and most celebrated of Japan’s gardening styles. In essence, the dry landscape garden is simply a symbolic representation of mountains and water using rocks, sand, gravel, and moss.

Karesansui is characterised by a minimalist approach in which nature is represented in abstract. Designed to eradicate all superfluities and to force the mind to slow the processes of thought, it expresses the taste for austerity and simplicity.

In the western mind, the dry landscape garden is almost exclusively associated with the Spartan aesthetics of Zen temples. These landscapes were not meant to be entered physically, but to be contemplated from the verandahs and rooms of nearby buildings. The most celebrated dry landscape is the one overlooked by the abbot’s quarters at the temple Ryōan-ji, (the “Temple of the Peaceful Dragon”) in Kyoto. The dry landscape is generally accepted to date from 1488. This garden exhibits the genre in its purest form. It is composed solely of fifteen rocks arranged in three compositions of seven, five and three, surrounded by islands of moss, positioned in a rectangle of meticulously raked white river sand. It is sometimes interpreted as a tigress shepherding her cubs across a river, but I think it is just about islands in the sea. It is also a misconception that all dry landscapes are void of flora. Moss and other evergreens often play a representational role, evoking the landscape rising out of the “seas” of sand.

Diagram of rock layout in dry landscape at Ryōan-ji. View from verandah of abbot’s quarters.

There are many scholarly interpretations for the positioning of the rocks. But perhaps it would be more appropriate to adopt an existential approach, whereby the garden and its effects are simply experienced for themselves. Possibly, the composition of the garden has its roots in a Zen meditational technique of staring at a fixed point. Meditational techniques serve to divert man’s energy from flowing outwards towards other objects to flowing inwards towards his centre. In Ryōan-ji, objects (the rocks) are so perfectly arranged in space (the raked sand) that the viewer eventually ceases to experience them separately. Outward energy reverses to inward energy as the viewer’s concentration now turns to focus upon his own consciousness.

If there is art in the original conception of the dry landscape garden, there is also art in the constant renewal of the raking patterns. We often overlook these patterns as merely the background to the rock compositions and plantings. The stones and plantings are relatively permanent, but new patterns are raked into the gravel each time rain, wind or time have broken them down or destroyed them. Raked gravel adds a textural element and helps to create or enhance ambiance. Depending on the style and size of the ridges created, a softly lapping ocean or a rapidly-flowing river may be invoked, and the ridges will catch the sun as it travels across the sky, providing onlookers with ever-changing panoramas. The lighter the hue of gravel, the more effective the garden will be under moonlight. Raking the sand is also a Zen ploy used to assist a monk in putting aside daily concerns and personal thoughts. It is a form of meditation in motion. Raking the sand into intricate designs, or even into straight and parallel lines, takes enormous concentration. These designs are normally re-raked every two to three weeks using a variety of wooden bamboo dowel rakes. The Contemplation Garden During the Muromachi period (1333-1568), due mainly to the influence of Zen Buddhism, a new style of garden arose that was not intended to be entered physically. The contemplation or meditation garden was a spiritual sanctuary, a three-dimensional landscape art designed to be viewed like a painting from a seated position in a room or on the verandah of a nearby building. The essential idea is a garden for the spirit, designed to be toured mentally with the eye rather than with the legs.

The development of the more condensed austerity of shoin-zukuri (“shoin architecture”), led to the adoption and perfection of contemplation gardens. The size of the available space for gardens was greatly reduced, and the use of shōji (paper-covered screens) and tatami (reed mats) in place of heavy wooden shutters and uncomfortable hardwood flooring, encouraged viewing from within buildings. Since many contemplation gardens were attached to temple buildings, they tended to follow the dry landscape design by default.

The most famous of such gardens is, of course, the dry landscape at Ryōan-ji. It could be said that the garden of Ryōan-ji symbolises neither a natural nor a mythological landscape. It symbolises nothing, in the sense that it symbolises not. It is an abstract composition of “natural” objects in space which is intended to induce meditation.

Some contemplation gardens were inspired by and created in the style of the landscape paintings of the early Sung dynasty of China (959-1279), which were extremely popular in Japan around the middle of the Muromachi period. Garden masters began to consciously imitate the dramatic verticality, sharp delineation and monochromatic palette of these paintings in the design and construction of their gardens. They turned the large areas left empty on the painted page into expanses of white sand. By layering garden rocks against one another to create a sense of depth, by setting rocks in a sea of white sand, by evoking the angular dynamism of brush strokes through careful selection and placement of rocks, they mimicked the ink paintings. By the use of dark stones, white sand and deep-green plants they reduced the garden to a monochrome, evoking the tonal quality of the paintings. And like paintings, these gardens are designed to be viewed statically.

The garden at Daisen-in sub-temple in Kyoto is a typical example of such a “painted garden:”

The garden employs all the elements of a classic Sung-dynasty Chinese landscape painting, but brings a three- dimensional form in a garden which surrounds the temple main hall on all four sides. The dry river landscape is a metaphor for the journey of life - from the narrow rapids of youth to the more mature stream of adulthood. Rocks symbolise human trials and tribulations. Eventually, the river empties out into a flat void of white gravel which symbolises the void of death to which all travellers return. Further out stands a single Bodhi tree beyond two gravel cones, which represent the obstacles to the attainment of enlightenment. 1. The "main" garden is composed of rocks 2. The "river" flows through "The Wall Of Doubt" 3. The other branch of the "river" flows suggesting mountains and a waterfall, clipped to a larger "Ocean" of white gravel. In the river past Buddha's footprint (a water filled shrubs and trees representing a forest, and are several symbolic stones; one resembles a indentation in a rock) into a "Middle Sea." raked white gravel representing a river. The "treasure ship" moving with the current, and the "river" splits into branches, one of which flows other resembles the back of a turtle trying to through "The Wall Of Doubt." swim upstream.

Daisen-in sub-temple in Kyoto. 4. The "Middle Sea" aka "Japan's Inland Sea." 5. Finally, "The Great Ocean."

Zen Aesthetics Yugen ~ subtle profundity; a profound and austere elegance concealing a multi-layered symbolism. It is an elegant beauty concealing profound depth, a beauty that lies within rather than without. It is concerned with the true nature of reality that hides behind the illusory aspects of the world. Thus, garden design was taken to the limits of austerity. Water is symbolised by white sand. This same “water” is a symbol of the “river of life” and the progress of a Zen adept. Yohaku no bi ~ the beauty of empty space. Best perceived in the sparse ink paintings of the period with their expanses of unpainted paper, as well as in the large “empty” spaces found in the gardens of the time. It focuses on what is left out of the design, rather than what is put in.

Seven characteristics of art inspired by Zen Buddhism: Asymmetry Simplicity Austere sublimity Naturalness Subtle profundity Freedom from attachment Tranquillity

The gardens of the Kamakura and Muromachi eras imitate the inner essence of nature, not its outward forms.

In Part 2 we will examine the remaining prototype gardens.