Page 63 - BSAM 2016 Q3

Facing page, top; In 2004 Master Kuo Sze Ern (Ernie Kuo) took
me to see the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva) in California, an experience that in uenced my understanding of the High Mountain Style.
Facing page, bottom insets and top of this page; Taroko National Park, Jade Mountain and Hehuan Mountain are fountains of inspiration to Taiwanese bonsai artists and the subject of this article.
By Min Hsuan Lo, Taiwan, and José L. Rodríguez Macias, Puerto Rico Photos courtesy Min Hsuan Lo
Previous articles have addressed Taroko National Park, Jade Mountain and Hehuan Mountain as fountains of inspiration to Taiwanese bonsai artists. Originally established in December 12, 1937 and known as Tsugitaka-Taroko National Park, the park was reestablished as one of Formosa’s nine national parks on November 28, 1986, along with Yushan National Park (1985) and
as part of the National Park Law of the ROC.
Taiwanese high mountain junipers (Juniperus squamata) are the result of a
permanent battle between life and death. Perhaps, judging by their crooked forms, they encompass the complementary and interdependent nature of opposites. As they struggle to grow, wind, snow, avalanches, rain, temperature and other natural phenomena exert force and shape them. One might say that without these elements, there would be no Taiwanese high mountain junipers and without the junipers, holding rmly onto the ground, there would be no Taiwanese alpine environment! Such is the essence that gives way to inspiration and the subject of this article.
Nature has always played an important role in my bonsai journey. For example, in the year 2004, I had the privilege of being a guest demonstrator at the California Golden State Bonsai Convention. As part of my leisure activities, Master Kuo Sze Ern (Ernie Kuo) took me to see the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva). Although not entirely similar, the constant struggle and will of these pines to survive in subalpine forests present similar forms and environmental characteristics which remind me of my Taiwanese high mountain junipers. e colossal bristlecones, particularly those that thrive at high altitudes, have a magni cent, gnarly appearance. As they grow and play against the forces of nature, their vascular system su ers, exposing the relics of life and death, expressed in a the dance of living tissue and shari. is essence of nature, these wild forms
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