‘Humble Cottage’ a tribute to individuality
Print Edition
DRIVING from Chenhang Highway to Putang Road, the roadway becomes winding and rough. Amid a scattering of farmhouses, the hustle and bustle of the city soon seems far away.
One of the houses somewhat stands out from the others. It has clean gray walls and a black-tiled roof. Through the carved window, one can seen an array of bonsai inside.
This is the home of calligrapher Tang Jingsi. He calls it the “Humble Cottage of Swallows.”
Born in 1953, Tang was an “educated youth” sent from the city to Pujiang Town under the national campaign to support peasants in the countryside. At the time, he never reckoned he would settle here for good.
Tang doesn’t know which he favors more, calligraphy or bonsai. He said his father taught him calligraphy when he was a boy, but he stopped practicing it when he was nine and didn’t take it up again until he was around 30. He has been obsessed with bonsai for several years.
“When I was young, what I loved most was to go to the Shanghai Botanical Garden and look at plants,” Tang said. “A corner in the garden displayed works of bonsai masters. The more I looked at them, the more I became obsessed with them.”
When he started to do his own bonsai, his cultivation methods were purely from instinct.
“I arranged and trimmed the plants according to my own taste, and I loved the results,” Tang said.
He said the key to a fine-looking bonsai is to make it look old and natural.
“The old look is powerful enough to cover all the flaws,” he explained. “You look at those pines that are hundreds of years old on Huangshan Mountain and you’ll find every one of them is a natural piece of art. They don’t need any artificial trim. They are already perfect.”
One of the largest bonsai in Tang’s yard is a pine, with piece of twisted deadwood entangled in its limbs. The design was Tang’s idea.
“The limbs were quite loose, so I thought to add the deadwood to make up for the visual emptiness,” he said. “It may not be traditional bonsai, but I don’t really care about the norm. I want to express my idea of death through bonsai. Life and death can never be separated.”
Tang said he never carefully planned out his life. His credo has always been to pursue whatever interests him.
One of his interests was making small furniture. Like many Chinese artists, Tang loved traditional solid wood furniture, and he collected pieces of wood and fashioned them into miniature furniture pieces. Displayed in his home are the results of all that handcrafting.
Another interest is Peking opera. Tang said he used to listen to performances on the radio when he was young and fell in love with the jing hu, a two-stringed bowed instrument frequently used in Peking opera.
Back then, his only valuable was a Shanghai-produced Baoshihua watch. He sold it to buy a jing hu. He taught himself how to play. When he wasn’t working, he would spend hours playing the instrument.
“These are just hobbies — the jing hu, bonsai and furniture,” said Tang. “I never seek outcomes from them. I just enjoy spending time and energy on them. When I’m in the mood for the hobbies, I can even set aside calligraphy and my career for weeks on end.”
Many people come to visit him, marveling at all the interesting things in his home.
“There is no better life than this,” Tang said.
Tang’s personality is revealed in his calligraphy works. His characters don’t have a fixed style or shape. He said he never ponders too much when creating a work. Tang Lin, an art critic, once described Tang’s calligraphy as “natural and free,” without imitating any masters.
Tang explains that he is most productive when he is in the right mood, with no pressures. If he were to think that he had to sit down and create a masterpiece, he said, his calligraphy wouldn’t be successful.
“Just like this cane,” said Tang, tapping the walking stick beside him. “It is just part of the truck of a wisteria tree, made without any artificial process. But it has the best shape, with its entwined root in the shape of a deer head. It is very natural, which makes it very beautiful.”
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