Hòn Non Bô
Encyclopedia
Hòn Non Bô is the Vietnam
ese art of making miniature landscapes, imitating the scenery of the islands, mountains and surrounding environment as found in nature. It is a particular local development of the Chinese art of penjing
, as was bonsai
in Japan
.
The phrase Hòn Non Bô comes from the Vietnamese language :
Hòn means Island, Non means Mountain, and Bô means a combination of water, mountain range and forest, or it can also mean "imitating the way the scenery looks in miniature".
Hòn Non Bô may be quite large or simple. It was used to grace the courtyard entrance of the traditional Vietnamese home. Throughout Vietnam history, Hòn Non Bô have been built for emperors, generals, and other important people as monuments, decorations, personal vistas, and as cultural icons.
An example of Hòn Non Bô scenery is on display at the Balboa Park, San Diego, California USA.
China of the protectorate general of An Nam (Vietnam). In 939, Vietnamese forces under Ngo Quyen
took advantage of chaotic conditions in Five Dynasties-era China to defeat the occupying troops and then to set up an independent state.
Miniature landscape art - undoubtedly a local development of the Chinese penjing
style - was first recorded after Vietnamese independence in the year 939. A version of this was the Hòn Non Bô (lit., "island-mountain-panorama"), which is designed to be seen from all sides. People, even the poorest, placed rocks and plants surrounded by water in containers or basins originally carved from stone. (Later these were formed from stucco
, and then from concrete
.) Individual Hòn Non Bô could be a foot or two in height. Sometimes these were also known as Tiêu Canh, the art of mini-scenes where the tree is the main subject and it is larger than the mountains portrayed. Members of royalty built larger versions up to 20 or 25 feet high (with mountains always larger than the backdrop trees). Almost always one or more of these landscapes were included in the grounds of their palaces and temples to form a part of the sacred enclosure. At some point these were oftentimes accompanied by parallel verses in Chinese, stereotyped quotations that everyone knew thanks to popular collections of expressions for use on various occasions. Incense sticks and some miniature figurines might also be a part of their construction. This was done even after Ngo Quyen's death ushered in period of civil strife.
Temples were built with Hòn Non Bô in order to commemorate the deeds of the kings who ruled between the years equivalent to 968 and 1005.
From 1225 to 1400, the Trần Dynasty ruled Vietnam and repelled the invading Mongol forces of the Yuan Dynasty in 1258, 1285, and 1288. Most of the magnificent palaces were destroyed in the process. These were subsequently rebuilt, complete with Hòn Non Bô, using the labor of enemy collaborators.
In 1406, the Chinese Ming dynasty
king ordered his army to invade Vietnam and confiscate all things related to that culture, such as books and art objects, and bring them back to China. The following year, the interim Vietnamese ruler was caught by invaders, carnage followed, and all works of art and architecture were destroyed -- including Hòn Non Bô. Later, the Lê Dynasty
(1428-1788) rebuilt many of the devastated palaces and Hòn Non Bô were very popular features in the renovations. Mini-scenes and miniature landscapes made during this period used Cycas revoluta
(sago palms) on the birthdays of kings, lords, and elderly high-class people. The scholar Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm (aka Trang Trình, 1491-1585) was said to have used a Hòn Non Bô to provide guidance while predicting the fate or destiny of others.
Hòn Non Bô, as well as miniature plants and rocks, are mentioned in Doan Truòng Tân Thanh, a thousand-page book by Nguyên Du (1766-1820). During the Nguyễn Dynasty (1802-1945), the art of miniature plants without much additional landscaping, cây kiêng, flourished. (It was called cây canh in the north.) Kings enjoyed planting pines and junipers; mandarins loved growing Thuja
orientalis and Casuarina
; intellectuals or other notable figures liked Ficus
; and lay people devoted themselves to planting mallow (Malva
), Tamarindus indica, and Melaleuca leucadendra
. Except for those planted by kings, all trees planted for pleasure by mandarins or lay people had to have their tops bent downward because it was considered impertinent to superiors to have treetops growing upward.
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
ese art of making miniature landscapes, imitating the scenery of the islands, mountains and surrounding environment as found in nature. It is a particular local development of the Chinese art of penjing
Penjing
Penjing , also known as penzai , tray landscape, potted scenery, potted landscape, and miniature trees and rockery is the ancient Chinese art of growing trees and plants, kept small by skilled pruning and formed to create an aesthetic shape and the complex illusion of age...
, as was bonsai
Bonsai
is a Japanese art form using miniature trees grown in containers. Similar practices exist in other cultures, including the Chinese tradition of penjing from which the art originated, and the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese hòn non bộ...
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
The phrase Hòn Non Bô comes from the Vietnamese language :
Hòn means Island, Non means Mountain, and Bô means a combination of water, mountain range and forest, or it can also mean "imitating the way the scenery looks in miniature".
Hòn Non Bô may be quite large or simple. It was used to grace the courtyard entrance of the traditional Vietnamese home. Throughout Vietnam history, Hòn Non Bô have been built for emperors, generals, and other important people as monuments, decorations, personal vistas, and as cultural icons.
An example of Hòn Non Bô scenery is on display at the Balboa Park, San Diego, California USA.
History
The Au Lac kingdom had been a vassal of the Chinese Western Han Dynasty since 196 B.C.E. and was then annexed in 111 B.C.E. In 679 C.E., there was the creation by Tang DynastyTang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
China of the protectorate general of An Nam (Vietnam). In 939, Vietnamese forces under Ngo Quyen
Ngo Quyen
Ngô Quyền was a Vietnamese prefect and general during the Southern Han Dynasty occupation of Giao Châu in the Red River Valley in what is now northern Vietnam...
took advantage of chaotic conditions in Five Dynasties-era China to defeat the occupying troops and then to set up an independent state.
Miniature landscape art - undoubtedly a local development of the Chinese penjing
Penjing
Penjing , also known as penzai , tray landscape, potted scenery, potted landscape, and miniature trees and rockery is the ancient Chinese art of growing trees and plants, kept small by skilled pruning and formed to create an aesthetic shape and the complex illusion of age...
style - was first recorded after Vietnamese independence in the year 939. A version of this was the Hòn Non Bô (lit., "island-mountain-panorama"), which is designed to be seen from all sides. People, even the poorest, placed rocks and plants surrounded by water in containers or basins originally carved from stone. (Later these were formed from stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
, and then from concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
.) Individual Hòn Non Bô could be a foot or two in height. Sometimes these were also known as Tiêu Canh, the art of mini-scenes where the tree is the main subject and it is larger than the mountains portrayed. Members of royalty built larger versions up to 20 or 25 feet high (with mountains always larger than the backdrop trees). Almost always one or more of these landscapes were included in the grounds of their palaces and temples to form a part of the sacred enclosure. At some point these were oftentimes accompanied by parallel verses in Chinese, stereotyped quotations that everyone knew thanks to popular collections of expressions for use on various occasions. Incense sticks and some miniature figurines might also be a part of their construction. This was done even after Ngo Quyen's death ushered in period of civil strife.
Temples were built with Hòn Non Bô in order to commemorate the deeds of the kings who ruled between the years equivalent to 968 and 1005.
From 1225 to 1400, the Trần Dynasty ruled Vietnam and repelled the invading Mongol forces of the Yuan Dynasty in 1258, 1285, and 1288. Most of the magnificent palaces were destroyed in the process. These were subsequently rebuilt, complete with Hòn Non Bô, using the labor of enemy collaborators.
In 1406, the Chinese Ming dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
king ordered his army to invade Vietnam and confiscate all things related to that culture, such as books and art objects, and bring them back to China. The following year, the interim Vietnamese ruler was caught by invaders, carnage followed, and all works of art and architecture were destroyed -- including Hòn Non Bô. Later, the Lê Dynasty
Lê Dynasty
The Later Lê Dynasty , sometimes referred to as the Lê Dynasty was the longest-ruling dynasty of Vietnam, ruling the country from 1428 to 1788, with a brief interruption....
(1428-1788) rebuilt many of the devastated palaces and Hòn Non Bô were very popular features in the renovations. Mini-scenes and miniature landscapes made during this period used Cycas revoluta
Cycas revoluta
Cycas revoluta , is a plant native to southern Japan. Though often known by the common name of king sago palm, or just sago palm, it is not a palm at all, but a cycad.-Description:...
(sago palms) on the birthdays of kings, lords, and elderly high-class people. The scholar Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm (aka Trang Trình, 1491-1585) was said to have used a Hòn Non Bô to provide guidance while predicting the fate or destiny of others.
Hòn Non Bô, as well as miniature plants and rocks, are mentioned in Doan Truòng Tân Thanh, a thousand-page book by Nguyên Du (1766-1820). During the Nguyễn Dynasty (1802-1945), the art of miniature plants without much additional landscaping, cây kiêng, flourished. (It was called cây canh in the north.) Kings enjoyed planting pines and junipers; mandarins loved growing Thuja
Thuja
Thuja is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae . There are five species in the genus, two native to North America and three native to eastern Asia...
orientalis and Casuarina
Casuarina
Casuarina is a genus of 17 species in the family Casuarinaceae, native to Australasia, southeast Asia, and islands of the western Pacific Ocean. It was once treated as the sole genus in the family, but has been split into three genera .They are evergreen shrubs and trees growing to 35 m tall...
; intellectuals or other notable figures liked Ficus
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
; and lay people devoted themselves to planting mallow (Malva
Malva
Malva is a genus of about 25–30 species of herbaceous annual, biennial, and perennial plants in the family Malvaceae , one of several closely related genera in the family to bear the common English name mallow. The genus is widespread throughout the temperate, subtropical and tropical regions of...
), Tamarindus indica, and Melaleuca leucadendra
Melaleuca leucadendra
Melaleuca leucadendra is a tree belonging to the Melaleuca genus. The common name, Cajuput Tree, is derived from the Malay word kayu putih - meaning "white wood".-Description:...
. Except for those planted by kings, all trees planted for pleasure by mandarins or lay people had to have their tops bent downward because it was considered impertinent to superiors to have treetops growing upward.
See also
- BonsaiBonsaiis a Japanese art form using miniature trees grown in containers. Similar practices exist in other cultures, including the Chinese tradition of penjing from which the art originated, and the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese hòn non bộ...
— Japanese art of miniature tree cultivation - PenjingPenjingPenjing , also known as penzai , tray landscape, potted scenery, potted landscape, and miniature trees and rockery is the ancient Chinese art of growing trees and plants, kept small by skilled pruning and formed to create an aesthetic shape and the complex illusion of age...
— Chinese art of miniature tree cultivation - SaikeiSaikeiliterally translates as "planted landscape". It is the art of creating tray landscapes that combine miniature living trees with soil, rocks, water, and related vegetation in a single tray or similar container...
— tray gardens using bonsai - BonkeiBonkeiBonkei is Japanese for "tray landscape". A bonkei is a three-dimensional depiction of a landscape in miniature, portrayed using mainly dry materials like rock, papier-mâché or cement mixtures, and sand in a shallow tray...
- Japanese dry tray landscapes