Marble slabs for Penjing

Hi Guys

Wanted to know if anybody knew the reason Slabs are used for Penjing.
I understand they represent the water and are shallow to give perspective but is there a story behind why they were used.

I make them here in South Africa as i am a Granite installer and often have off-cuts that i make into slabs.
We are having a workshop this coming weekend and i have been asked to talk on the slabs as the theme for the weekend is ROCKS.

Any information would be much appreciated.

Brett

Hi Brett.

Penjing is like a Chinese Ink Painting. Some even refered to penjing as a three dimensional Chinese painting. Thus, like a white canvass or paper, clear marble, light gray, granite or cipoline represents well the "emptiness" to contrast the "mass". and providing contrast in penjing specially in landscape is very important for a successful composition and a plain white marble tray is the best material for this purpose.

The water and land penjing has its beginning in the Song Dynasty. But please take note that there were no exact date or year were the used of marble/granite trays were first use and recorded.
Before the idea of the marbles and granite were used as a tray they  were used before as a regular penjing pots for tree penjings.

In modern times the use of marble trays were popularized by Zhao Qingquan of China.

Most of the Marble pots in China came from Yunnan, Jiangsu, Sichuan and Shanghai provinces.



regards,
jun

Much thanks,
L.L.B,

very informative.
Khaimraj

Wanted to know if anybody knew the reason Slabs are used for Penjing.

Again, it depends to a degree on how you define Penjing.  Many, many excellent and beautiful bonsai landscapes are planted on rough rock (or manufactured) slabs.  Many others are planted in very shallow ceramic pots.  

In modern times the use of marble trays were popularized by Zhao Qingquan of China.

Yes.  He wrote a very (deservedly) popular book, and at least for a few years after that popped up at bonsai conventions everywhere.  Which to some extent makes marble slabs very trendy.  I have a couple of older books written by Chinese artists in which there are no penjing displayed on counter-top white slabs.

Bonsai/penjing orthodoxy changes -- maybe not as often as high-couture women's fashions (I know, redundant), but they do change -- over the years.





Both of these are from the North Carolina Arboretum collection.

Thanks guys

Jun thank you, any information i can get will help, i have his book and will read through it again. One day when i have finished some of my slab plantings i will post them here. For now i just have a lot of slabs lying around... 

Jim i agree with you and have plantings in very similar "pots" to what you have shown. Don't want to get into what defines penjing but more why the slabs are used.. I think i now have a good idea thanks to You, Jun and others.

Brett

Brett Simon wrote:Thanks guys

Jun thank you, any information i can get will help, i have his book and will read through it again. One day when i have finished some of my slab plantings i will post them here. For now i just have a lot of slabs lying around... 

Jim i agree with you and have plantings in very similar "pots" to what you have shown. Don't want to get into what defines penjing but more why the slabs are used.. I think i now have a good idea thanks to You, Jun and others.

Brett

Done as I say have you?