Huizhou-style Penjing

Huizhou-style Penjing

　　　A school of penjing (potted plant) art named after ancient Huizhou. Represented by Maihua Fish Village in She County, it includes penjing created by folk artisans in regions such as Jixi, Yi County, and Xiuning. Known for its primitive, peculiar, vigorous, solemn, and profound characteristics, it has established a unique artistic style with a history of over 800 years and is renowned nationwide for its "Roaming Dragon Plum Trunk" in the world of penjing gardens. During the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, large-scale Huizhou-style penjing exhibitions were held once every 12 years in places like Renli, Jixi.

　　In February 1972, Premier Zhou Enlai accompanied U.S. President Richard Nixon and his wife to admire the Huizhou plum penjing displayed in Shanghai People’s Park. President and Mrs. Nixon were full of praise for the dignified and ornamental beauty of the "Roaming Dragon Plum Trunk," which exuded strong Huizhou-style characteristics.

　　The emergence and development of Huizhou-style penjing are inextricably linked to Maihua Fish Village, whose founding ancestors were the Hong family. As the Hong family migrated over time, they brought this unique art form of penjing to Huizhou and further developed and promoted it in places like Jixi and She County.

　　Huizhou-style penjing conveys meaning through form. For example, the Roaming Dragon style symbolizes the nation, the Three-Tiered style implies the mythical Penglai paradise or the realms of heaven, earth, and humanity, while the Guest-Greeting style signifies welcoming honored guests. The Roaming Dragon plum trunks, twisted podocarpus, and Three-Tiered junipers are tall, majestic, rugged, and primitive, brimming with mysterious ornamental beauty that complements classical Huizhou architecture, creating a profound artistic effect. Shapes like Huangshan pine and podocarpus take inspiration from the ancient pines of Huangshan, embodying the vibrant and aspirational humanistic spirit of Huizhou. Plum trunk penjing cultivated in Maihua Fish Village have won nearly half of the gold, silver, and bronze awards in national "Two Plums" exhibitions over the years, demonstrating their exceptional strength.

　　Huizhou-style penjing features a wide variety of plants. It primarily uses Huizhou plum, Huizhou cypress, Huangshan pine, and podocarpus, with other varieties such as Chinese arborvitae, crape myrtle, nandina, and elm also being relatively common. Through centuries of careful cultivation by Huizhou flower farmers and penjing artists, a large number of outstanding plum varieties have been selected and developed, such as Huizhou Bone Red, Huizhou Sandalwood, Huizhou Terrace Jade Butterfly, Huizhou Palace Pink, and Hongling Two Red. Even the Yellow Fragrant Plum, believed to have been extinct for centuries by the horticultural community, has miraculously reappeared in the ancient Huizhou plum gardens. These varieties were created through long-term selection by flower farmers, artificial grafting, layering, and other methods to preserve diversity. Their colors range from purple-red, vermilion, pink to pink-white, plain white, light green, and light yellow, covering the full spectrum. Flower types include single-petal, double-petal, multi-petal, and terrace styles, presenting a dazzling array of forms and colors.

　　Huizhou-style penjing employs unique shaping techniques. Flower farmers use palm leaves to shape young plum branches during the early stages, adjusting them every two years, while larger branches are bound with palm rope. Once the main trunk is roughly formed, side branches are further refined, and smaller twigs are only pruned without binding, resulting in an artistic technique known as “rough binding and rough pruning, combining cutting and binding.” Most Huizhou-style penjing are shaped in open ground before being transferred to pots with stands. On the slopes of Maihua Fish Village, spanning dozens of hectares, hundreds of thousands of plum trunks and tree stump shapes of various sizes are cultivated, making it deservedly known as the “No. 1 village for growing and selling flowers” in China. In propagation, the method of combining layering and stump cultivation is used, which is also quite rare in China.