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FEATURE - EMBRACING DIVERSITY
LEAFY CULTURE • BY GABRIELLE ANCTIL
What does the forest look like in the mind of Quebecers? Just close your eyes and imagine the boreal expanse where a few iconic species stand out: a pine over here, some cedars over there. These softwoods mix in with white-trunked birches to add a touch of yellow in the fall. These images are part of the identity of many Quebecers. What about other cultures? How do they imagine the forest?
IN THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN The Japanese are fond of taking hikes in the forest, to which some add hobbies such as mushroom and wild plant picking. "Going to the forest is almost synonymous with going to the mountains," explains Sonia Dandaneau, cultural officer at the Japanese Garden and Pavilion. It's no wonder: mountains occupy nearly three quarters of the Japanese territory! "In the Shinto religion, the gods can be found in remarkable natural environments, such as a particularly dense forest," adds the cultural officer. This place will be referred to with the term 森 mori, which evokes a dense, lush, almost inaccessible forest, as distinguished from the ordinary forest, referred to as 林hayashi. Even today, certain trees and plant motifs have a particular symbolic meaning. A pine tree, an emblem of longevity, is sometimes seen on a tray used to bestow a monetary gift at a wedding.
More than 60% of the Chinese population lives in the city. As a result, "people experience the forest less," says Fei Gao, cultural officer at the Chinese Garden. The relationship with nature has become more a matter of imagination—or vacation. "The cities are surrounded by mountains, and people go hiking there. It's a very popular pastime for young people." Just as in Japan, forests figure prominently in Chinese religion. Tao Yuan-Ming, one of the greatest poets inspired by Taoism, is known for his famous work "Account of the Peach Blossom Spring", in which a fisherman accidentally discovers a village surrounded by trees with fragrant flowers, delicate and lovely to the eye, where people take refuge from the political life of the time.
PHOTO Shutterstock/Efired
THE MIDDLE KINGDOM
The work started a trend among intellectuals to move to the countryside to seek inspiration and get away from the political constraints of the city, a choice admired by their peers.
