Timeless Trees

Timeless Trees. . , Centuries ago the art of cultivating trees in pots traveled across the sea from China to the island nation of Japan. There it slowly acquired a distinctively Japanese style. While the Chinese sought to capture the essence of their wilderness in miniature form, the Japanese chose to tame nature by standardizing styles and techniques. They believed that bonsai, like haiku poetry, should inspire mindfulness., The Japanese people's spiritual reverence for older trees led them to create bonsai styles that imitated the characteristics of age. Tapered trunks with flaring bases, dead wood, and branches bending with great weight all reflect the qualities of a tree's advanced years. Even a young tree might appear old when trained to develop these features., In Japan, bonsai has long been recognized as a fine art with the same seriousness of intent and depth of meaning as poetry, music, painting, or sculpture. We invite you to contemplate the masterpieces of this centuries-old art form displayed here.,

Shaped by human hands , Nurtured becomes nurturing , Slowly growing dreams

, Mastering Forms , Japanese bonsai artists created idealized images of mature trees, taking inspiration from the trees around them. Observing the many ways that trees grew, straight up or leaning, for example, they created rules for shaping bonsai into typical forms. While each bonsai is unique, it may be classified according to the way its creator styled it. Look for the standard bonsai styles below as you walk through the pavilion., Priceless Gifts , In honor of the American Bicentennial, a committee of experts journeyed through all four major Japanese islands to find the most noble bonsai to offer as gifts. When the United States turned 200 in 1976, it gratefully accepted 53 bonsai and 6 viewing stones from the people of Japan. The selection is included one bonsai for every U.S. State, plus three from the Imperial Collections. Members of the Nippon Bonsai Association assured that each tree represented the mastery of the art form achieved by generations of Japanese bonsai artists. The extraordinary gift of friendship became the National Arboretum's first bonsai collection., Photo: U.S. Ambassador James D. Hodgson receives document of bonsai gift from former Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi in Tokyo at the Presentation Ceremony, March 20, 1975., Inspiring A Vision , His numerous collecting trips to Japan in the 1950s and 1960s exposed USDA plant explorer John L. Creech to the country's wealth of plant material used in bonsai. He learned to appreciate the horticultural expertise required to keep trees planted in pots alive for centuries. After becoming director of the U.S. National Arboretum in 1973, Dr. Chreech knew he wanted to showcase Japan's most honored form of plant culture. Through his efforts, the Japanese bicentennial gift cleared the diplomatic and quarantine hurdles required to bring 53 bonsai from their home in Japan to serve as cultural ambassadors living in the Nation's Capital.