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Practiced for centuries in China and
Japan, bonsai is the reproduction of natural tree forms in miniature. Bonsai
trees are living miniature trees which increase in beauty and value as they
mature over the years.
Bonsai is a personal experience and anyone who tells you differently has not had
the “bonsai experience.” However, through our decades of intense interest in and
tremendous love of bonsai, we have discovered that there is a remarkable amount
of personal satisfaction to be gained from sharing our interest with others.
That the origin of Bonsai, while often attributed to the Japanese, is actually
Chinese in derivation. Many experts agree that bonsai, know as Pensai in China,
was practiced by scholars, monks and the noble classes of China as far back as
600 A.D. A few centuries later, bonsai, along with Zen Buddhism, and much of the
best of Chinese culture was brought to Japan.
… That the word “Bonsai”, which is
pronounced “Bone- Sigh”, is made up of the two Japanese characters: “Bon”
meaning tray and “sai” meaning plant, which when literally translated means:
tray plant. Of course, the cultivation of bonsai trees has advanced much since
its humble start as plants in trays.
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