Hon Non Bo, or the art of creating miniature landscapes, is an important aspect of Vietnamese culture. For centuries Vietnam’s mountainous terrain of caverns and outcrops, sinuous rivers, and verdant plant life has inspired the arrangements of stones, water, and plants set in shallow pots. With this book as a resource, admirers of bonsai and Asian art can obtain an effective historical perspective on a little-known living art form, and formulate a context encompassing the spiritual and aesthetic symbolism of Hon Non Bo. Photographs help explain the association of artistic elements and the meaningful countenance of trees, huts, bridges, and animal and human figures used in the creation of the landscapes; a step-by-step approach to making the concrete container basins is also illustrated. A commendable handbook, introducing technical information along with the fundamental precepts of building a miniature landscape.
Alice JoyceCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
Large, easy to follow, instructive photographs clearly [define] the Vietnamese art. . . . The book is a pleasure to enjoy. —
William N. Valavanis, International Bonsai, No. 1 2002The explanations of the historical, religious, and philosophical significance of this art are understandable and very informative. —
Barbara S. Jones, California Garden, May – June 2002What a fascinating and hiterto completely unknown field. . . . I can hardly wait. —
Stefan Buczacki, Bookseller Buyer’s Guide, Autumn 2001