From elegant pleasure to valuable commodity

Bonsai hobby is a traditional cultural beauty of Vietnamese people since ancient times. Nowadays, as society develops, this hobby has expanded to all subjects and spaces, from urban to rural areas, at the same time creating a source of income and jobs for many people...

Elegant hobby

Mr. Nguyen Van Trung, Chairman of the Dong Ha City Ornamental Plants Association, said that the association was established since the re-establishment of the province, gathering people with the same passion for ornamental plants. Up to now, although there have been more sub-associations including ornamental plants, ornamental birds, and ornamental chickens, ornamental plants still account for the largest number of members. In addition to members participating in activities, there are many people who are passionate about ornamental plants, participating in other spontaneous, small groups, from urban to rural areas. Members come together because of the same interests and passions, to exchange, share experiences, and exchange their works through activities and groups on social networks, thereby connecting with each other across the country.

Bonsai exhibition of Pho Dong Bonsai Club, Dong Ha City in 2023 - Photo: LM

The ancient elders have a saying: "Playing bonsai nourishes the spirit", meaning that the hobby of playing bonsai is very elegant, kind, helping players blend with nature. Through taking care of bonsai, artisans create their own vivid and attractive natural landscapes. They silently entrust their thoughts, wishes, and beliefs in the shape of each leaf, the curve of the trunk, the flexibility of each branch with full creativity. Playing bonsai enriches spiritual life, becoming a long-standing cultural practice of the Vietnamese people. Many artisans spend decades or their entire lives to complete a tree embryo, a sapling into a work, a tree shape for life, one of a kind, with meticulous and strict shaping principles. Favorite tree shapes often created by artisans are xieu phong (wind blowing), huyen (flying), truc (gentleman), waterfall, ngu phuc (five blessings), tam da (three blessings), phu the (fortune - fortune - longevity), phu the (husband and wife), phu tu (father and son), mau tu (mother and son)...

According to Mr. Trung, each beautiful and valuable bonsai work must ensure the four elements of “ancient, strange, beautiful, and literary”, meaning an old tree, a strange tree shape, a beautiful tree, and a soulful tree. Any type of tree that meets these four elements is loved, chosen, and collected by artisans. However, if it falls into traditional and rare trees, it is even more valuable, such as elm trees, Central yellow apricot trees, sa kim tung, mai chieu thuy, laurel trees, etc.

According to Mr. Trung, currently bonsai enthusiasts are very diverse in age, family economic conditions, regions, from urban to rural areas. There are many young people who are passionate about bonsai, have many beautiful works and soon become artisans. At the same time, depending on economic conditions, some people are only passionate about small-sized trees, bonsai style, those with good economic conditions collect and care for large, ancient trees, hundreds of years old, with great value.

Bonsai worth billions

Artisan Nguyen Duc Hien, in Ward 1, Dong Ha City, said that Quang Tri does not have many large, valuable orchards like some provinces and cities in the North and South, but it has typical regional ornamental plants with very high economic value. One of the typical and valuable plants that many tycoons love and collect is the elm tree and the Central yellow apricot tree. According to Mr. Hien, the Central yellow apricot tree is a tree that blooms yellow flowers on the occasion of the Lunar New Year, which is quite familiar to people and is commonly grown in all rural areas of the Central region, especially in Quang Tri, Quang Binh , Thua Thien Hue, and Quang Nam. In the former rural areas of Quang Tri, almost every house had an apricot tree in front of the yard, which was cared for all year round, waiting for the day of blooming every time Tet came. As for the elm tree, it has grown wild for generations on riverbanks and in the forests with an ancient, strange appearance. Therefore, ancient yellow apricot and elm trees are very popular with people with good economic conditions.

Artisan Nguyen Duc Hien takes care of and creates an ancient bonsai apricot tree - Photo: LM

Mr. Hien added that he currently owns and takes care of more than 300 yellow apricot trees, from mini bonsai to ancient trees. He buys and collects yellow apricot trees from all over the countryside, from finished trees to raw trees to create both for fun and for business.

With the growing trend of playing with yellow apricot trees, the value of this tree is also quite high. Currently, in Quang Tri, there is an individual who owns a yellow apricot tree that is being advertised for 5 billion VND. In addition, in Quang Tri, there have been ornamental tree transactions with values ranging from 1 to 1.5 billion VND.

Businessman Nguyen Truong Chinh, in Dong Le ward, Dong Ha city, is one of the people with good economic conditions, owning about more than 100 ornamental plants, in 2 gardens of about 1,500 m2, worth up to tens of billions of dong.

Mr. Chinh believes that bonsai not only creates spiritual excitement for players but also creates economic value. Mr. Chinh gave an example that in 2019, he bought an apricot tree for 14 million VND. After 5 years, someone wanted to buy it back for 130 million VND, but he did not sell it. According to Mr. Chinh, beautiful bonsai trees have increased value over the years, so more and more people are passionate about and invest in them, spreading this hobby, and at the same time opening up many business and job opportunities for many people.

Create business and employment opportunities

Artisan Nguyen Duong, in Ward 1, Dong Ha City, has been passionate about bonsai for over 20 years. Mr. Duong is known by bonsai enthusiasts not only as a tree enthusiast but also as a highly skilled artisan.

In addition to taking care of his own trees, Mr. Duong is trusted by many people to give him their tree creations to shape, prune, and care for. He takes care of trees for many people, the work includes changing soil, fertilizing, pruning branches, and shaping. The average labor cost is 500,000 VND/day for normal trees; for large, valuable trees, the cost of care and creation is higher and depends on the agreement between the tree owner and the artist.

Many ornamental plants in businessman Nguyen Truong Chinh's garden are valuable - Photo: LM

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Trung, the hobby of bonsai not only creates beauty for the urban landscape, ecology and environment, but also creates jobs for many people. From the strong development of bonsai movement, the profession of caring for and shaping bonsai has been formed.

Currently, there are more than 30 artisans in the city who take care of and shape bonsai trees. Those with low skills are considered workers; those with high skills are called artisans and their wages correspond to their skills. In addition, there are a large number of people who dig and transplant trees in most rural areas in the province who also earn income from this job.

In addition, a chain of businesses selling ornamental plants, equipment and materials for ornamental plant care such as pots, tools for tilling soil, cutting and pruning branches, fertilizers, by-products, etc. is formed in Dong Ha City. It is easy to come across shops specializing in materials for ornamental plant hobby. In addition, this hobby also creates jobs for pot molding establishments, and at the same time, agricultural by-products such as coconut fiber, peanut shells, rice husks, and livestock manure are purchased to create income for farmers.

According to Mr. Trung, the hobby of bonsai is spreading and developing widely in society and is opening up a new profession, creating many jobs and incomes. Therefore, there needs to be guidance and support from the government. The first thing is to soon establish a Provincial Bonsai Association like other localities to support members, promote the movement and build the Quang Tri bonsai brand to gradually develop sustainably.

Le Minh

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/kinh-te/choi-cay-canh-tu-thu-vui-tao-nha-den-hang-hoa-co-gia-tri/183374.htm