For centuries, the Hanoian has enjoyed the pastime of growing miniature trees and bushes, shaping them into various forms through rigorous pruning of the roots and branches. This pastime is not popular, but holds the pure pleasure of aesthetics and beauty for the artist.

From the Ly Dynasty in the 11^th century, in the suburban areas of the old capital of Thang Long – present-day Hanoi, there were many flower and ornamental tree-growing villages with names that are still used today, such as Vong Thi, Nghi Tam, Hong Mai, Hoang Mai and Ke Mo. Associated because of flower production are the villages of Tay Ho, Quang Ba, Huu Tiep and Dai Yen. Together with Nhat Tan Village where peach trees were planted in abundance, those villages all together made up a flower growing belt surrounding the capital.

Residents in the capital in the old days and at present have been interested in raising and enjoying ornamental plants, called bonsai. The beauty of bonsai is different from the beauty of flowers. Some may think that to raise a bonsai is simply to water and trim the plants everyday to keep them green. In fact, it is an entirely hard working process that requires creation and devotion of the grower. Bonsai artisan Le Huu Quyen from Hanoi shares his experience, saying: "The most difficult step is to shape the plant. A skilful artisan will know how to tend the plant in such a way that it does not develop, but gets stunted and small. The plant may be a dozen years old, but it is only dozens of centimetres tall. With the artisan's trimming and shaping, the plant develops beautiful and strange horizontal or vertical positions, in the shape of a lying dragon, a pair of dancing dragons, dancing phoenixes, etc.

Besides changing the plant into a desired shape, the artisan can build up a new one from those having original beautiful shapes. He grafts two plants together sharing one root, or from one root he creates several plants, which can be tall or short, but are attached to one another.

For example, the banyan tree and fig tree have beautiful root, trunk and branches, but their leaves are too big. To build up an ornamental mini fig plant of less than 40-50cm tall with a small leaf canopy that can grow in a small garden, the artisan has to cut off the original leaves, wait for the new ones to grow and keep them not to develop by less watering the tree. The young new leaves will live in a condition of shortage of water and they can not develop normally, causing them to be stunted. At the point of time when the tree has full leaves, the artisan will take care of it with regular watering to keep them green.

To deal with the roots, the artisan has to slightly raise the tree out of the ground and place it into a new pot. After changing the pot several times, the roots of the tree will be displayed on the surface. During this time, if it rains, the artisan has to keep the pot inside the house or cover the tree so that the water will not stay in the pot.

Nowadays, bonsai growers like to "renovate" their plants by shaping them in such a position that they will have highly aesthetic value, for example "a plant holding a rock" (the roots go through the rocks, splitting-up and covering the entire rock), or a plant having the fascicled root which grows off the surface and is connected to one another.

Unlike other forms of arts, bonsai is a lively multi-direction art which reflects the passion of the grower. Each artisan has his/her own idea while creating a work which he/she tries to blow a soul into.

Photos by Tat Son