![]() ![]() Miyagi’s lessons to Daniel-san about balance in The Karate Kid and using the “baby trees,” as Daniel put it, as a tool for it.įor instance, if a leaf or a branch is disproportionately large given the size of the tree, throwing the whole thing out of balance, it should be removed. While there are many different styles of bonsai, keeping everything balanced is key for whatever type and shape of bonsai tree that is grown, hence Mr. Instead, they are regular tree and shrub species, traditionally pine, maples, and azaleas, which are manipulated using pruning techniques, including extensive root pruning, to dwarf and shape the plants. Around the same time in Japan, penjing was distilled down to single, miniature trees, rather than miniature landscapes being the focus, with famed Zen master Kokan Shiren being particularly influential in the spread of Zen Buddhism and defining bonsai as an art form.īesides not strictly being “invented” in Japan, another common misconception about bonsai trees is that they are genetically dwarfed. The catalyst for this widespread adoption was the introduction of Zen Buddhism to Japan. While Buddhist monks and delegations sent from Japan to China had been bringing back to Japan miniaturized crafted landscapes as souvenirs starting not that long after the art of penjing had been established in China, it wasn’t until the Kamakura period in Japan (1192-1333 AD) that the Japanese seem to have adopted this craft. ![]() Those tiny landscapes were often given as gifts among China’s elite. In the earliest form of penjing, first emerging as a developed art form around 600-700 AD in China, people would collect native trees and grow them in small containers as a part of elaborate miniaturized landscapes. Long before the bonsai art form of creating miniature trees came to Japan, the wealthy in China were perfecting their craft known as “penzai” and “penjing.” The former means “tray plant” and the latter “tray scenery.” It is from the Japanese pronunciation of “penzai” that the word “bonzai” ultimately derives- “bon” meaning “tray-like” and “sai” meaning “planting.” (The Japanese equivalent of penjing is bonkei, meaning “tray landscape.”) ![]()
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