Beautiful Little Trees
Maybe you’ve walked through an ornamental garden and saw some plants that remarkably look like trees. It seems impossible that they are trees though because of how small they are. These are bonsai trees and their size usually belie their age. This is because even though they are small, they can already be decades old.
The bonsai first appeared in China. It was known as pun sai which means planting and growing single tees in plants. The inspiration for bonsai actually came from China’s legends and myths of fiery dragons and coiled serpents. This is seen from the trees’ appearance which had animal-like trunks and roof formations.
Bonsai was part of the many cultures that Japan adopted from China. The art of bonsai was then highly refined in Japan. These were first confined to the Buddhist monks but later on they came to represent the aristocracy and thus became a symbol of prestige and honor. The art bonsai has then developed its ideals and beliefs. Bonsai is believed to be a representative of the harmony between man, the soul, and nature.
Bonsai also played special roles in the lives of the Japanese elite. They were displayed in specially designed shelves during special times. However, the plants at this time were still far from the bonsai trees we recognize today. It was in the 17th to the 18th century that the Japanese began the trimming and cutting from the plant everything but the most important parts. It was in the mid-19th century that Japan shared the bonsai with the rest of the world.