Seoul, April 4 (ZXS) -- How does bonsai philosophy connect China-South Korea friendship?
——Interview with South Korea's "Garden of Thought" Grow into Fan Yong
China News Agency reporter Liu Xu
On Jeju Island, South Korea, there is a world-famous bonsai garden "Thinking Garden". Since 2007, "Garden of Reflection" has held a series of activities to commemorate the anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea, and is known as a witness of China-South Korea friendship. Recently, "Garden of Thought" Changcheng Fan Yong accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency's "East-West Question" to introduce the philosophy of "Garden of Thought" and review the story of Sino-Korean friendship connected by the art of bonsai.
The following is a summary of the interview:
China News Agency: Could you please introduce the background of the establishment of "Garden of Thought", and why did you name it "Garden of Thought"?
Sung Beom-young: I was born in January 1939, originally lived in my hometown of Gyeonggi Province, and I took a boat back and forth (Jeju Island) from 1 and started living here in 1963 to create this bonsai art garden.
In the beginning, there was no electricity or water, so I started with a thorny stone wall, digging, picking stones, and constructing every day and night. In the process, I have made many detours, suffered several serious injuries, and undergone several surgeries. There were no design drawings at all, and I built it little by little while thinking about it, so I named it "Thinking Garden".
The Garden of Thought. Photo by Liu Xu
China News Agency: You are known as the "Korean Yugong", do you know the story of the Chinese Yugong? What do you think is the most important quality for a "fool"?
Cheng Fanyong: At first, I didn't know the story of the Chinese Yugong, but I saw that some Chinese media called me "Korean Yugong", so I went to learn about the story of Yugong in detail. He was a wonderful man, and comparing me to a fool seemed a little too much to praise me.
If there is anything that I have in common with Yu Gong, it may be that we both have an insistence on labor. From 1968 to the present, I have been working for 55 years except for business trips, doing it now, and I will continue to do it in the future. Recently, I also got up at five or five o'clock in the morning, came here at six o'clock to work, and then finished breakfast and started working again, until dark, without a fixed rest time. In addition to being ill and hospitalized, there are no days off. I also suffered a lot of injuries, including 12 hospital admissions and 7 surgeries due to serious injuries. It can be said that I built this beautiful courtyard by my own labor.
I believe that if people are not interested in work (labor), they will not have the joy of life. People need to work, work will set the goal of self-realization, move towards the goal to enter a better state, pursue self, achieve self.
"Korean Yugong" stone monument. Photo by Liu Xu
China News Agency: How do you understand the philosophy of bonsai?
Cheng Fanyong: Bonsai is not a simple imitation or reduction of nature, it uses natural objects as materials, in accordance with the laws of nature, gives play to people's aesthetic awareness and personality, and creates works that are more beautiful than the original natural objects. It can be said that bonsai is an act of "seeking the way", through which man and nature are harmoniously integrated.
There is an old Chinese saying "Ten years of trees, a hundred years of tree people". I think there is a very important relationship between nurturing trees and nurturing people. For example, young men and women who marry and have children will nurture and educate children, and just like children, each tree has a different personality. The effort that goes into caring for a tree is the same as raising a child. Bonsai culture is both spiritual culture and educational culture, and in-depth understanding of bonsai culture allows people to correctly choose their own life path. I am also working to make this a "garden of education" to enlighten humanity with the truth and philosophy I have learned from the trees.
Tourists visit the Garden of Reflection. Photo by Liu Xu
China News Agency: Your "Garden of Thought" has received many Chinese tourists, do you have any impressive things in the process of interacting with Chinese friends?
Cheng Fanyong: The construction of the "Garden of Reflection" began in 1968 and was opened to the public in 1992. Many Chinese leaders, scholars, and experts have been here, and Chinese universities and local governments have invited me to China for dialogue. In the process of meeting and dealing with Chinese leaders and Chinese friends, I have felt their profound knowledge, thorough understanding of culture, art and philosophy, and I have benefited a lot from the many high-quality exchanges between us.
"Garden of Reflection" by Cheng Fanyong. Photo by Liu Xu
At the invitation of Wu Weishan, director of the National Art Museum of China, I visited the National Art Museum of China several times. In 2006, I was appointed as an advisor to the China Bonsai Artists Association and continued to participate in Chinese bonsai exhibitions and forums for friendly exchanges.
In addition, Lu Zhangshen, former director of the National Museum of China, Zhao Lihong, a famous Chinese writer, and Mo Yan, a Chinese Nobel Prize winner in literature, have all been here and are very good friends with me. I also maintained a friendship with Mr. Fan Jingyi, the former editor-in-chief of People's Daily, during his lifetime. There are also many Chinese friends who will bring calligraphy and painting works. I have more than 3,000 calligraphy and painting gifts in my warehouse, so I am also the "Garden of Korea-China Friendship" here. In the future, I plan to build a museum of Korean Chinese and chemical art to display gifts from China.
It is worth mentioning that during the creation of the "Garden of Reflection", I experienced unbearable loneliness and pain. When I was depressed and hesitant, it was experts and scholars from all over the world, including China, who spoke highly of this courtyard, which gave me great comfort. It is a courtyard without design drawings, which carries a farmer's dream of planting trees, and it has now gone through more than half a century. Thank you very much for the support of friends from all over the world to "Thinking Garden" over the years.
The main entrance of the "Garden of Reflection". Photo by Liu Xu
China News Agency: What is the story of your relationship with Mr. Fan Jingyi?
Cheng Fanyong: In 1995, Mr. Fan Jingyi, who was the editor-in-chief of People's Daily at the time, came to visit me. Previously, Mr. Fan Jingyi did not agree with potted flowers and trees because he was influenced by the article "Notes on the Sick Plum Museum" by Chinese Qing Dynasty writer Gong Zizhen when he was a teenager. But during the visit, I pointed out that what the art of bonsai does is to make these wild flowers and trees design and cultivate to bring people beauty.
After returning to China, Mr. Fan Jingyi published an article in the People's Daily entitled "New < Sick Mei Guan Ji >". Unlike Gong Zizhen's "Notes on Sick Plum Pavilion" that denies potted plants, Mr. Fan Jingyi said in the article that my concept of potted plants is "not destruction, but correction". These wild flowers and trees have been designed, cultivated, and tuned by me, and finally become works of art that can arouse people's sense of beauty.
Mr. Fan Jingyi's article introduced my "Garden of Thought" to China for the first time, and my friendship with him lasted for many years.
Commemorative tree for the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Korea and China. Photo by Liu Xu
China News Agency: In 2022, "Garden of Thought" held a commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea.
Sung Beom-yong: Since the 2007th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Korea and China in 15, the Garden of Thoughts has held a commemorative event for the establishment of diplomatic relations between South Korea and China every five years, and has held it four times so far, and will continue to hold it in the future. In addition, I plan to continue exchanges with Yangzhou Yangpai Bonsai Museum, Shanghai Baifo Garden, Hebei Academy of Fine Arts, Daxiangshan Guoxue Cultural Park, etc., which have established sister relationships, and play a role as a bridge for friendly exchanges between Korea and China.
Across the sea, South Korea and China are closest neighbors that can never be separated. I believe that we and China should always live in peace, and exchange more, learn from each other, learn from each other, and become eternal partners. I also hope that this "Garden of Reflection" will become a courtyard of peace, a garden of friendship, and a courtyard of eternity. (End)
Respondent Profile:
The head of the Korean "Thinking Garden". Photo by Liu Xu
Director of "Thinking Garden" in Korea, honorary doctor of culture and technology from Jeonju University in Korea, international advisor of the World Bonsai Friendship Alliance, and international advisor of China Bonsai Artists Association. He is the author of "Garden of Reflection", "Cultivation Bonsai", "Commemorative Album for the 20th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between Korea and China", "Life of Grass and Trees" and other works, and has won the "Korean Art Bonsai Culture Award" of the Korean Bonsai Association, the "2006 Jeju Tourism Award" of the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Minister of Culture of Korea, the "2012 Tourism Culture Award" of the Jeju Tourism Association of Korea, the "China-Korea Friendship Contribution Award" of the Chinese Consulate General in Gwangju, and the "Thank You Card" of the Chinese Embassy in Korea.