Tucked away on the boundless and blossoming grounds of the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington D.C. is the world’s first and finest museum devoted to the art of Bonsai: the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum.
Bonsai is a timeless Japanese art form that involves cultivating small trees in containers to grow and take on the shape and scale of full-size trees over time. The term ‘Bonsai’ quite literally translates to ‘planted in a container’.
The precision that goes into tending to a bonsai tree is what makes this practice an art form. Practitioners are given the opportunity to exhibit extreme patience, effort, and artistry as they give life to a miniature world of their own that endures over time. While the ever-evolving art of bonsai is indeed about the essence of trees, it is also about the value of time, life, and the art of story-telling through living illusions.
The National Bonsai Museum’s origins date back to 1976 (as pictured to the left), when–in recognition of America’s Bicentennial–the people of Japan gave the gift of bonsai to our country. They presented a collection of 53 budding bonsai trees that arrived in Washington D.C. and were handed over to the U.S. National Arboretum for their preservation. Hence, the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum was born from the bestowal of these first few bonsai.
Though the museum’s overarching focus is to highlight the nuanced beauty of bonsai, its mission extends beyond this as well. Providing education and enlightenment on bonsai, delving into the scholarly study of this art, and cultivating a collection of literature and other materials related to bonsai are a few other goals of the National Bonsai Foundation.
On stepping through the wooden entrance gate and onto the cobbled path that loops towards the sprawling museum courtyard, visitors will instantly sense an atmosphere of tranquility and a timeless silence pervading the air. Surrounded on all sides by a fascinating assortment of flora, from the towering trees that stretch up towards the sky to the swaying mountain lilies bordering the path, the museum will no longer feel like a museum, but a blissful, botanical paradise instead.
The winding path opens onto a courtyard consisting of three distinct pavilions, each one centered around a cultivation of plants stemming from China, Japan, or North America. It also features an exhibits gallery, a lecture and demonstration center, and a tropical conservatory (pictured to the right).
The Exhibits Gallery displays selections from the museum’s Viewing Stone collection, which features naturally occurring and unshaped stones from around the world. These stones suggest some aspect of the natural environment from which they originate, either through their form, surface patterns, or color. The illusion of miniature worlds within these unique rocks further reflects the transcendent art of bonsai.
The Exhibits Gallery further presented the museum’s annual spring Azalea Bonsai Exhibit which lasted from May 21st, 2022 to June 5th, 2022. These ravishing azalea bonsais lined the walls of the gallery in blinding hues of magenta, coral, salmon, and pearl, with breathtaking blossoms adorning each fragile branch. Traditional Japanese tapestries lined the walls as well, giving the exhibit a perfectly antiquated ambience.
Adjacent to the Exhibits Gallery is the Chinese Pavilion, which portrays the art of “penjing”–a scene or landscape preserved in a container. This pavilion was dedicated to Dr. Yee-sun Wu, who was an avid Hong Kong collector of penjing. A traditional Chinese gateway structure with a graceful gable roof greets visitors as they stroll into the pavilion. A sign over the entrance is engraved with Chinese calligraphy that states: “Dr. Yee-sun Wu – A place where plants are trained and cultivated under the hand of a man of letters”. Inside, 36 exquisite trees line the walls including a Water-Jasmine, Trident Maple, Buddhist pine, and many others.
The Japanese Pavilion collection now amounts to 63 plants and features one remarkable tree with a particularly special place in history. The “Yamaki Pine” or the Japanese White Pine is known as “The Most Famous Bonsai in the World” and has traveled the planet for generations, finally settling permanently at the National Bonsai Museum, greeting visitors as they enter the Japanese Pavilion (pictured at left).
This tree survived the bombing of Hiroshima.
On the morning of August 6, 1945, at 8:15 AM, the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The Yamaki pine was being housed in a commercial bonsai nursery when the bombing occurred, but it was miraculously sheltered by a tall wall that encompassed the nursery. Now, this bonsai tree is almost 400 years old and is the oldest specimen in the Japanese Bonsai Collection. The Yamaki pine is truly a monument to peace and beauty and the miracle of its survival is memorialized in the walls of this pavilion.
The final pavilion features the North American Collection, which was dedicated in 1990 to John Y. Naka, a North American Master bonsai artist. Naka’s world-famous bonsai, “Goshin”, is placed at the entrance to the pavilion, and the collection further includes an Olive tree, Crabapple, Pomegranate tree, and more.
The National Bonsai Museum & Penjing Museum is a tribute to the ancient art of bonsai, and the ornate work of artists who labor over each minuscule detail of every tree, from the petals of a budding flower to the bend of a nimble branch. These collections are a part of our humanity’s history. In the words of Jack Sustic, co-President of the National Bonsai Foundation, “Every bonsai tells a story and some of the stories are truly amazing. From such humble beginnings to symbols of peace and perseverance they quietly stand on display as testaments to man’s reverence toward nature”.
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