Bonsai

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Bonsai listen (help·info) (Japanese: 盆栽, literally "potted plant") is the art of aesthetic miniaturization of trees by growing them in containers. Originating in Chinese penjing (Chinese: 盆景, "tray scenery"), Japanese bonsai developed its localization of techniques and aesthetics after its introduction to Japan by imperial embassies returning from China in the ninth century. In Western culture, the word "bonsai" is commonly used as an umbrella term for all miniature trees.

History

The history of bonsai is cloaked in the mist of the past, but it is now widely believed to have started during the Han Dynasty in China. It was the Chinese who first created the miniature landscapes and trees that we now know as bonsai or penjing. Since originating in China many centuries ago, it has developed into many new forms in various parts of China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam.

At first, the Japanese used miniaturized container-grown trees for decorating their homes and gardens.

During the Tokugawa period, landscape gardening attained new importance. Cultivation of plants such as azalea and maples became a pastime of the wealthy. Growing dwarf plants in containers was also popular, but by modern bonsai standards the container plants of this period were inappropriately large. The then-term for dwarf potted trees was "a tree in a pot" (鉢�木, hachi-no-ki^?).

The c.1300 rhymeprose essay, Rhymeprose on a Miniature Landscape Garden, by the Japanese Zen monk Kokan Shiren, outlines the aesthetic principles for bonsai, bonseki and garden architecture itself.

Cultivation

Bonsai are not genetically dwarfed plants. They are created from nearly any tree or shrub species and remain small through pot confinement and crown and root pruning. Some specific species are more sought after for use as bonsai material. This is because they have characteristics that make them appropriate for the smaller design arrangements of bonsai. There are many different ways to acquire, cultivate and grow bonsai. Several of the most common include:

Read more at Wikipedia.org