Many bonsai
enthusiasts are introduced to Japanese Kanji (pictograms)
in bonsai publications where the BONSAI Kanji is often printed.
The bonsai kanji is therefore relatively well known as representing
“tray(bon-) planting(sai).
Tray
(Bon)
|
Planting
(Sai)
|
Kanji
In simple terms, most kanji are stylised derivatives of an
older, picture based Chinese language. Versions of it are
in common use throughout much of the Far East including China,
Japan, Korea and Vietnam, having been exported there during
the Chinese Imperialist expansions many centuries ago.
There are 2 other
forms of pictogram writing in Japan that augment the Kanji
system - Hiragana and Katakana (both derived from Kanji) -
that express complex and foreign words as well as a system
based on the English/Roman alphabet. eg. Honda, Suzuki, Sanyo.
You would need to know about 3000 kanji and some of the other
2 scripts just to read a Japanese newspaper; compare this
to the mere 1000 words that we need to be know to read most
English publications.
Each kanji can be one, or any number, of a defined set of
over 214 basic “radicals“ or building blocks.
Each with a specific meaning (the Bushu).
These basic radicals represent items such as people, simple
concepts such as big or small, common animals, domestic and
agricultural tools, weapons, numbers, food items, landscape
features and weather conditions.
You only have to think of Egyptian hieroglyphics or the well-known
primitive man cave paintings to get a feel for how they developed.
Kanji are in fact the sort of picture items that would be
needed by people with under developed language skills in order
to make themselves understood, to communicate across language
barriers or leave messages.
In very general terms, each kanji has a name and also a pronunciation
or phonetic sound that is entirely different. In most cases
there are several possible pronunciations for each kanji -
some based on Japanese (the “Kun” reading) and
some on the original Chinese ( the “On “ reading).
Each kanji can have more than one meaning. Conversely, there
are different kanji meaning the same thing and the same phonetic
sound can apply to more than one kanji.
These
building blocks or radicals can be used as kanji on their
own or combined to create a kanji expressing a word, a feeling
or an idea.
| This
chart shows how Kanji can often relate to each other and
how one kanji (hito) can slowly alter
into several others. |
HITO
|
Two
legged creature = person (Bushu
No. 9) |
FU
|
This
one becomes man or husband as it has arms and what was
originally a hat – now a stylised crosspiece near
the top. (Bushu Nos. 7, 9 &
37 combined as a kanji) |
originally?
|
TEN
|
This
becomes heavens or sky as the “hat” line
has moved on top indicating something over your head/
higher than/ above man? (Bushu
Nos. 1 & 9 combined as a kanji). |
TSUCHI
|
Remove
the two legs and move a line below and this becomes
earth or ground. i.e. a flat place with an object standing
on its surface (Bushu No. 32).
Some readings have this as a clod of clay on the ground
originally. So a high line is “heaven” and
a low line is “earth” |
KI
|
And
this one becomes tree (or wood) as it is growing partly
above but mainly below the earth line. (Bushu
No. 75).Some readings say “Ki” is
a tree with sweeping branches. |
ONNA
|
And
to perhaps answer a question – this one is woman.
Same 2 legs and arms as man, but is she pregnant I wonder?
(Bushu No. 38) Some readings
say this is a kneeling woman with outstretched arms. |
As an illustration
of how basic and simple combinations can be, take a look at
the following Kanji example.
MORI
|
3
trees (Ki) in a group or “lots of wood”
Meaning: Forest |
As previously
stated, much of the original picture (Kanji) language has
become very stylised due to writing techniques and artistic
license rather like medieval illuminated script. However,
hopefully it will be a little clearer when we look at some
more examples.
Some kanji are quite obvious with just a little imagination
- the stick man and the very “tree-like” tree
and forest kanji in the charts above are prime examples.
Other Kanji combine
images to convey more complex ideas like the examples below.
AME
|
1.
This is the kanji for rain and consists of the radical
for a hanging scroll with water droplets. The scroll
is hanging from a “heaven” line so we have
the sense of a wet in the sky. |
SARA
|
3.
This is the kanji for dish that appears as a radical
in the Bonsai kanji. It Looks like a line of plates
in a rack. |
KOTOBA
|
2.
This is the kanji for “speech” and is a
stylised mouth (the bottom rectangle) with sound waves
radiating out of it. We’ve all seen similar images
in cartoons,diagrams and animations |
CHI
|
4. This is the kanji for
blood. I particularly like this one.As you will see
later it represents a broken plate(s) and who hasn’t
cut themselves in a domestic accident? |
The brief
excursion I have taken into the Bonsai kanji and the various
radicals (Bushu) that are employed, reveal potentially much
more, including I believe, what may be double meanings and
puns.
The
Bonsai Kanji
A pal
of mine, Richard Fish, was told the following about the Bonsai
Kanji by his Japanese teacher and put some of these ideas
forward on an internet bonsai discussion forum. I have pondered
these initial ideas more than once.
The radicals
that make up the first Kanji for “tray” or “Bon”
consist of:-
|
Eight/many
(hachi)
Knife /sword/
cut (katana)
Dish (sara)
also a helping
|
This is how we
derive “Tray” seemingly. i.e. a dish, divided,
cut or sliced (horizontally) will give a thinner dish or tray
as often used for bonsai.
It was also suggested
that this idea of breaking something down into smaller sections
may be a reference to making it easier to learn and on personal
reflection this may also be a pointer to the “eight
fold path” of Buddhism?
However, at this
point I will pose an immediate question and that is, “Why
isn’t/wasn’t the more exact kanji for tray or
flat plate employed therefore?”
BAN
Tray
|
This
also has the radical for plate in it at the bottom
along with that for boat, windy and again.
Presumably
this is some sort of reference to boards with lipped
edges being used on boats to carry plates to prevent
them sliding off in rough seas.
|
Although the “tray”
kanji shown above is a more precise word, the nautical connotations
are/were all wrong presumably, has no subtlety, and it has
no connection the overall message being conveyed.
So this introduces
the notion of kanji elements being deliberately selected to
be in context and suggestive. A tray isn’t a tray unless
it’s the right type of tray.
I am grateful to
Hiromi Dugwell of Toray Europe, one of my company’s
Japanese suppliers, who pointed out another twist to the tale
of the first “ Bon” kanji.
“Bon”
is synonymous with “Hachi” which is another word
for pot or bowl (flowerpot in some usages) as well as being
the word for “eight” (also “many”).
Further investigation showed me that the kanji for “pot/hachi”
is very interesting. (see below)
HACHI–POT
BON-TRAY
Includes “hachi”
|
On
the right side are the radicals for tree (already
seen above) and the line through it at the bottom
usually means one – so single tree? On the left
is the kanji for “gold”
So “Hachi” as “pot” is giving
us an image of a golden (valuable) single tree.
Is
it too big a leap to speculate, that the original
meaning for this Kanji? may have been for those pots
that held the first, treasured, yamadori that were
the preserve of the nobility historically………………………
And
do we have “hachi/eight” in the “bon”
kanji as a pointer to a pot with a valuable/precious
tree in it? Perhaps an old Japanese pun!?
|
Turning to the
“Sai” kanji, (interpreted as planting or plantation)
it was pointed out by my pal’s bonsai teacher that this
kanji consists of the radicals for ground, tree as well as
containing sword and rain elements. (the water droplet again)
We might expect
the kanji for “plantation” to be similar to the
forest kanji shown above and maybe conveying a sense such
as “many plants in the ground” – but it
seems not.
However, to be
fair about it, I have discovered one interpretation of the
“sai “ kanji as 10 tree planting (plantation?)
. This depends solely on how far you extend the horizontal
line in the sword-like radical but this I believe, only adds
weight to my thesis that there are hints, clues and deliberate
ambiguity in the kanji.
A commentary
on the radicals making up the “sai” follows and
incidentally, there are well over 100 Japanese words that
say “sai” with meanings as diverse as most, occasion,
gather, festival, wife, talent, west and vegetable which may
present even more pun potential.
There does
seem to be some confusion about whether the spear radical
(Bushu 62) used in the “sai” kanji is a spear
or a halberd. Whatever! It looks like a sword and a cutting
or breaking stroke of some sort and as stated above my old
friend the water droplet has turned up. (look back to the
“blood” kanji – a broken plate will cut
you)
Off on
another “left field” excursion, I wonder why a
spear (or a halberd) might be represented by a broken or cut
sword. It could be because the Yari spear in some manifestations
is somewhat like a short sword on the end of a staff with
elongated tangs not unlike the more familiar European halberd
(a pole weapon with a spike and axe blade on the end used
against mounted knights in armour)
Maybe
broken sword blades were re-worked as spear points so as not
to waste a valuable resource. The little water droplet which
also appears in the kanji for “perspire/sweat”
(and almost every other “wet” kanji I have looked,
except river and water itself, could be symbolising the work
involved?
But whether
it’s “10 tree planting” or “tree planted
in the ground”, a broken sword, a spear or a halberd
– and remembering the context, what does all this weapon
imagery have to do with planting or plantation?
I recall
that agricultural tools were adapted as weapons by peoples
conquered and disarmed by the mediaeval Chinese/Japanese.
e.g. rice flails, pitchforks and staves, which have since
become stylised martial arts weapons.
Maybe your halberd
came apart to become a handy but nondescript staff or digging
stick and an easily tucked away machete type tool when the
local warlord “came a calling?”
Perhaps it points
to a weapon not used as a weapon – but used to prune
or dig or as a planting tool or to some multi-purpose weapon/farming
implement?
Then digging
a little bit more I discovered that a “sai” is
a small trident type martial arts weapon widely believed to
be adapted from a planting tool! So perhaps we have another
pun on planting here.
A Sai |
Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtle fans may recognise this as Raphael’s
weapon!
|
So,
setting all this speculation aside, what do we have in the
“Sai” kanji?
I suggest that
we may have a tree in earth (or ten trees?) with a probable
water symbol and some notion of planting and cutting short/pruning
and/or cultivating perhaps.
Conclusion
As can be seen
Chinese and Japanese Kanji are an extremely complex form of
communication and this article barely explores the vast array
of pictograms that can be learnt.
My brief foray
into the general subject of kanji seems to reveal a wealth
of subtle nuances and meanings, double meanings (and dare
I say, philosophy) in them that I’m sure could occupy
a lifetime’s study.
In summary, I do
sense that knowing what we do about Chinese and Japanese traditions,
culture and bonsai specifically, that the BON SAI kanji as
“Tray Planting” interpretation always felt a little
too simplistic.
However, when studied
in a little more depth, a more complex interpretation of the
Bonsai kanji is revealed.
Both kanji seem
to have a sense of making each entity smaller - so is there
an overall meaning that not only is the dish or pot reduced
but the tree is dwarfed as well?
Add possible
undertones of breaking something down in to smaller pieces
in order to study or know it better and the “eight fold
path” of Buddism and we could end up with something
you could write a book about let alone a couple of thousand
words.
Although proposed
somewhat tentatively here, the notion of a dwarf tree that
is planted, cultivated, pruned and watered in its special
pot, eventually becoming something to be treasured, seems
to be a lot more satisfactory to me.
If
you would like to comment on this article, please email me
at:- wabashene@fsmail.net
Sources
and Acknowledegements
Beware of pop-up etc. when visiting sites.
I run heavy duty AV and blockers
http://kanji.sapp.org/
long lists of kanji arranged by stroke numbers
http://www.kanjisite.com/ quite useful but not extensive
http://taka.sourceforge.net/ lists the 214 Bushu radicals
http://www.mahou.org covers anime and a lot of other Japanese
style stuff
http://www.boloji.com/buddhism/00110.htm A quick intro to
Buddism
http://members.aol.com/writejapan/ A quick intro to Writing
in Japanese
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_character See for evolution
of Kanji
The Mahou site
produced consistently goods results and explanations. Google
search engine method is to type in:-
“Mahou
kanji [insert Japanese and/or English word(s) you
are looking for using English letters ] “ then
follow the link usually headed “Mahou (translate this
page). “Googling” seems easier than using the
site’s kanji “lookup” function and navigating
within the site.
My thanks to Richard
Fish and Hiromi Dugwell for their help, interest and assistance.
