Bonsai first appeared in China over a thousand years ago on a very basic scale, known as pun-sai, where it was the practice of growing single specimen trees in pots.

 With Japan's adoption of many cultural trademarks of China - bonsai was also taken up, introduced to Japan during the Kamakura period (1185 - 1333) by means of Zen Buddhism - which at this time was rapidly spreading around Asia.

 Once bonsai was introduced into Japan, the art was refined to an extent not yet approached in China.

 The ideals and philosophy of bonsai were greatly changed over the years. For the Japanese, bonsai represents a fusion of strong ancient beliefs with the Eastern philosophies of the harmony between man, the soul and nature.

 Contrary to popular belief, bonsai is not the art of stunting a tree's growth. The characters for "bonsai" translate, roughly, to "pot" and "to plant." As such, bonsai is the art of growing trees in a confined space (usually a pot or a tray) to simulate certain environmental conditions such as great age, extreme weathering, twisted or contorted form, landscape, or other factors. Accordingly, bonsai are modelled on, and often take inspiration from, nature. The idea of bonsai is to recreate some of nature's most stunning and beautiful effects on trees which are reduced in scale.

When undertaking bonsai, you are beginning an experience that will expand your horizons in countless ways. You may find a new sense of appreciation for nature, you may start looking at trees, bushes and shrubs differently.  How the art of bonsai will change you is as unpredictable as nature itself, but be assured of one thing: Bonsai will change the way that you look at things.

Nature

I like my trees to look as natural as possible.

Beauty

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There is no right way to measure beauty.

Maturity

One thing that most bonsai practioners will agree on is the idea that bonsai should simulate age. One of the goals of bonsai, then, is to produce the appearance of maturity in your tree. Although the tree may only be ten or fifteen years old, you can make it look as if it has been growing for decades or even centuries. Two features that give the appearance of age to trees are the caliper of the trunk and the degree of taper of the trunk. The trunks of bonsai (in most styles) will be very wide at the base and taper very smoothly to the top of the tree. Notice the way the massive trunk gradually tapers as it reaches the top.

 Every experienced bonsai enthusiast has his/her own personal idea of what bonsai is to them and what defining factors make them aesthetically appealing.

The two basic styles of bonsai are the classic  and the informal or 'comic' . In the former, the trunk of the tree is wider at the base and tapers off towards the top.

Over the years, bonsai enthusiasts have frequently tried to reclassify the styles, and their many sub-divisions into which plants can be trained. Once you understand the principles behind these designs/styles, you will have a reference point from which to assess a tree's potential for bonsai and to decide what style suits it.

If you study very carefully the way trees grow in nature, it is possible to design a realistic bonsai without knowing the names of these styles. You do not need to stick strictly to the precise rules of your chosen style: adapt them to suit a plant's natural habitat.

When you start a bonsai, always remember that you are working with a living plant.

 Look carefully at its natural characteristics and you may discern within them a suitable style, or styles.

 All conifers are reasonably unsuitable to the 'broom' style, for example, but are very suitable for all other styles, especially formal and informal upright - to which they are particularly suited.

 Shrubs like azaleas that are not tree-like in nature have fewer restrictions in the style you choose, but, generally, it is best to base any design on the way a tree grows in nature. People that are still learning the basic principles of bonsai should not try to train a bonsai into a style totally unlike a tree's natural growth pattern, although this is quite possible as you gain more experience.

 There are a number of aspects of bonsai presentation and styling that are worth remembering when considering the quality of a bonsai.

 The five basic bonsai styles are formal upright, informal upright, slanting (or windswept), semi-cascade and cascade. All have their own individual beauty and serenity.

 When shaping a tree, you must first decide which style is best suited to the tree's natural design. There are complex array of different shapes and styles to choose from. There are, however, five styles that seem to be agreed upon basic or fundamental designs.

  Formal Upright (Chokkan)

 For a tree to be a fomral upright, it must have a very straight trunk and a very balanced distribution of branches. The goal is to develop a sense of balance, but not strict symmetry. The first branch should be the most developed and should be positioned roughly a third the height of the tree. This style is best suited to conifers.

 Informal Upright (Moyogi)

 Informal uprights are one of the most common styles. This is the most basic design in that it follows the natural structure of the tree's trunk. The goal is to develop a single line of the trunk, reaching from the roots to the apex while producing a natural structure of branches and foliage. Again, the branching starts about a third of the way up, and there should be little or no empty spaces. Most deciduous trees will be best suited to informal upright styles.

 Slanting (Shakan)

 The "slanting" of this style refers to the direction of the movement of the tree's trunk. A Shakan bonsai will have a very distinctive slant, often time balanced out by very strong rootage on the opposite side of the trunk. The goal of shakan is to balance the movement of the trunk with the placement of the branches so that the tree does not appear to be lopsided. A slanted style tree can often give a very powerful impression of strength and age.

 Cascade (Kengai)

 These trees give the appearance of a waterfall or cascade of foliage which spills over the pot and down toward the ground. The casade should have a small crown above the top of the pot and a long cascading main branch that flows from the lower portion of the trunk to the apex. Ideally, the tip of the cascade should line up with the line of the trunk. These trees, which often times simulate the growth of a tree along a mountain's side, exhibit both strength and beauty.

 Windswept (Fukinagashi)

 This style simulates the effect of sustained exposure to strong winds. In this design, each of the branches appears to be "swept" to one side, as if being blown by a strong wind or having large portions of foliage and branches stripped by envirnomental conditions. These trees are modelled on trees usually found in coastal areas, where strong envirnomental forces have shaped and sculpted them for years.

 Bunjin (literati Style)

 This style is the most unconventional of them all. Bunjin often have long thin trunks which curve back around toward the front at the top, displaying the tree's foliage in a cascading form. It is not uncommon to see Japanese Red Pines shaped in this style. This style technically "breaks the rules" in a number of ways, but also imitate trees in nature that have been forced to contort themselves to survive. Often the result of adverse conditions, bunjin show us how nature itself "breaks the rules" in order to survive, not infequently with astounding grace and beauty.