What Happened On This Date in "Recent" Bonsai History?
JULY
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| 7 | 2000 -- Hong Kong Baptist University opened the Man Lung Garden at the main Li Promenade of the Shaw Campus to promote the Chinese heritage of penjing and enrich the lives of all who view it. The garden is initially displaying 20 pot plants donated by Dr. Wu Yee-sun, founder of Wing Lung Bank. The Wu Yee-sun Charitable Foundation has made a donation of HK$2 million for the promotion of penjing through the existence of the garden. Dr. Wu is widely regarded as the Sage of Penjing for his decades of in-depth expertise and reputation as the leader of the Lingnan School of Penjing (which is grandfather began). The original Man Lung Garden was founded by Dr. Wu in 1967. At that time, the garden was a place where penjing lovers and experts came to talk about and show their unique pot plants. The public had the rare opportunity of seeing beautiful exhibitions of priceless miniature trees. Unfortunately, in 1978 the first Man Lung Garden was forced to close down due to the expropriation by the government of Hong Kong of the land for a railway station. ("Penjing Garden opens on Baptist University campus," http://www.hkbu.edu.hk/~ours/pr_99/pe070700.htm; "About Man Lung Penjing," http://www.manlungpenjing.org/eng-about.html) SEE ALSO: Mar 16, Mar 27, May 2, Jul 7, Dec 14 |
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| 9 | 1976 -- The official dedication ceremony took place of the Japanese Collection of the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum at the U. S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. Japan's gift to the U.S. Bicentennial consisted of fifty-three bonsai and six treasured viewing stones. ("How the Japanese Collection was Assembled," http://www.bonsai-nbf.org/japan/assembly.htm; see also pp. 41-44 of Dr. John Creech's The Bonsai Saga, How the Bicentennial Collection Came to America) SEE ALSO: Mar 16, Jul 21 |
| 10 | 1995 -- Father Paul Bourne, O.C.O. died at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia, where he had spent the past 47 years of his life. Born May 2, 1908 in Seattle, Washington, he had been exposed during his youth to the art of bonsai through a Japanese neighbor and on his subsequent trips to China and Japan in the 1930s. Before the priesthood he studied art from ballet dancing with Martha Graham to painting and sculpture at the Sorbonne in Paris. His Masters Degree from Yale was in Art and Architecture. At the monastery in 1963, Brother Paul built a glass and wood-framed greenhouse to house orchids, which he grew and displayed as a hobby. He also began puttering around making bonsai, although he had no formal training. Bonsai was pursued as a personal way of solitude, meditation and prayer. The first "sale" of a tree happened one day while Brother Paul was away from the greenhouse. Upon his return, Brother Pius, who ran the small monastic gift shop, confessed that he sold one of the "little plants" to an insistent customer. It was Brother Paul's favorite and Brother Pius had charged all of five dollars for it. From this unlikely start the bonsai business began. Soon enough, pilgrims from near and far began asking to buy his "little trees." Brother Paul began a pioneering journey that strongly influenced the growth of bonsai throughout the Southeastern U.S. and elsewhere. He transcended the canons of traditional bonsai, referring to his style as "American Bonsai." One of the characteristics that set him apart was his use of a rock, placed advantageously with almost every tree he worked on. The result was always the same: a very natural and pleasing setting. This particular trait created an encounter with Frank Okamura, from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, during a workshop in Atlanta. Observing a bonsai done by Brother Paul, complete with the usual rock, and referring to the definition of bonsai, Frank said, "Bonsai say no rock, you must remove rock!" To which one would imagine Brother Paul probably answered, "My bonsai say YES rock!," as indeed the rock did stay in place. ("Eulogy To A Bonsai Friend" by Jorge Lucero, Bonsai, BCI, September/October 1995, Vol. XXXIV, No. 5, pg. 51; Bonsai by the Monastery website: http://www.bonsaimonk.com/frpaul.html ) |
| 11 | 2001 -- Ted T. Tsukiyama was formally presented with the Japanese Imperial Award of the Order of the Rising Sun with Silver Rays at a ceremony at the Japanese Consulate in Honolulu, Hawaii. The BCI Bonsai Magazine Contributing Editor and author, and a Past President of the Hawaii Bonsai Association, was acknowledged for his contribution to international friendships through bonsai and his life-long service to his community. (Bonsai News Department, Bonsai, BCI, Vol.40, No. 5, September/October 2001, pg. 39) |
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| 13 | 1972 -- The first joint assembly of combined memberships of the Bonsai Clubs International and American Bonsai Society was opened in Kansas City, MO. Running through July 16, the event's official theme was "Learning Together." The guest artists were Yuji Yoshimura and Toshio Kawamoto. ("Kawamoto Accepts Invitation to Bonsai Congress '72," Journal, ABS, Vol. 5, No. 4, Winter 1972, pg. 63; "Letter From Our President," Bonsai, BCI, Vol. XI, No. 7, September 1972, pg. 5) |
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| 20 | 1990 -- "Bonsai," a set of four postage stamps, was issued by the Republic of China (Taiwan). SEE ALSO: Jan 29, Feb 3, Mar 27, Mar 31, Apr 3, Apr 6, Apr 18, Aug 20, Sep 22, Oct 4, Dec 9. |
| 21 | 1973 -- Dorothy Young, President of the American Bonsai Society, and Beverly Oliver, President of Bonsai Clubs International, signed a resolution extending wholehearted support for the establishment of a National Bonsai Collection at the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. This was during the joint Bonsai Congress in Atlanta, Georgia. There Dr. John Creech, the Third Director of the Arboretum, put forth the concept of a National Bonsai Center to house trees to be gifted to this country by the Japanese as part of the U.S. Bicentennial three years hence. The concept had initially been discussed at the 1973 spring show of the Potomac Bonsai Association. Its acceptance now by these two principal bonsai organizations -- and master Yuji Yoshimura, who was in attendance and who had expressed earlier his dream that the richest nation in the world should have a National Bonsai Collection -- helped persuade the Japanese people that America was earnest about participation in this gardening art. (The Bonsai Saga by Dr. John Creech, pg.17) SEE ALSO: Jul 9 |
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