West Lake (Vietnamese: Hồ Tây), with a shore length of 17 kilometres, is the biggest lake in Hanoi. In the southwest corner of West Lake, the Thanh Niên Road separates a small body of water to form the Trúc Bạch Lake. We rented an apartment for a week overlooking Trúc Bạch Lake.
We enjoy slow travelling, the opposite of the usual arrangements offered by travel agencies. These companies pack as many “must-see” places in the shortest time possible as their value proposition. We are retired (my wife and I) and can afford to experiment with more flexible approaches to travelling. We prefer a self-arranged “see less to experience more” option.
A short walk north of our apartment brings us to the Yen Phu Village Hall. This is a place to experience rather than to see. You cannot even find a write-up on this place in Wikipedia. It is a quiet retreat where it is possible to literally (and figuratively) “let sleeping dogs lie.” In a corner of the village hall is an altar decorated with bonsai.
Bonsai (Japanese: 盆栽, lit. ’tray planting’) is the Japanese art of growing miniature trees in containers. However, this art form originated in China 3,000 years ago; people in China then cultivated ornamental plants to imitate natural scenery within gardens – a craft known as penjing (盆景, “pot scenery”).
We do not know when precisely penjing or bonsai entered Japan. Some associate it with the spread of Buddhism from China, which introduced tea plants and orange trees to Japan. However, the first authentic record of bonsai or miniature potted trees was recorded in 1195. By the Edo period (1603-1867), gardening and planting small trees was already in full swing.
If we were to break the bonsai pots, plant miniaturised trees in the ground and allow them to grow freely, they would resume their regular growth pattern. They will grow big and tall. They were intentionally cultivated in small pots to restrict their growth. Dwarf trees appear aesthetically pleasing to humankind. And so was the foot binding in Imperial China.
Foot binding (缠足) involves binding the feet of young girls tightly to change their shape and size. Foot-binding altered feet are called “lotus feet”, and the shoes made for these feet are known as “lotus shoes”. Foot-binding was a painful and crippling practice, but perversely, deformed feet were a status symbol and a mark of feminine beauty. It was estimated that, by the 19th century, 40–50% of all Chinese women may have had bound feet, rising to almost 100% in upper-class Han Chinese women.
In the late 19th century, Chinese reformers and Christian missionaries began to challenge the practice by organising anti-foot-binding campaigns. The foot-binding practice eventually died out in the early 20th century.
Unlike the anti-foot-binding campaigns, the anti-ageism campaign is still ongoing. We are now amidst an anti-ageism (“Silver Ceiling”) campaign by the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC). This campaign may provide further insights that may help us to age well.
If bonsai plants can speak, they may organise anti-bonsai campaigns. Miniaturised plants may please our eyes, but bonsai gardening stunts plant growth. These “pot-bound” trees can never grow tall to what they could be. Fortunately, Chinese and missionary reformers brought crippling foot-binding to an end during the early years of the 20th century.
Foot-binding is crippling, but it was accepted in a bygone era. Ageism is also crippling and was also accepted in the past (without us even knowing it). It restricts us, harms our health and well-being. We can refuse to have our feet “lotus-ed” (crippled) or our mind “bonsai-ed” (restricted) by ageist beliefs.
The key to enlightenment today, as before, is education. Our children should learn (from young), just like sexism and racism, ageism has no place in our lives and society. Adults should relearn to replace negative ageing beliefs and set their minds and bodies free. In Part II, we will go to Maastricht to see how and why education is the key overcoming ageism.
To be continued –
Reflections on Ageism II: Maastricht, Lev Vygotsky and Me
Vince
Dr Vincent Chong is a retired Professor of Radiology at Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore.
