You probably wouldn't believe it but the art of planting and tending to bonsais has been around for over two thousand years. Then called 'pun-sai', the ancient Chinese made unique animal designs such as dragons and birds out of the small branches of the small trees. These trees became the forefathers of what we now know as bonsais.

Although generally believed to be dwarf versions of plants or trees, any expert gardener would be able to tell you that bonsais aren't the smaller counterparts of bigger plant species. They are actually, just your regular plant that is carefully pruned on the tree's crown or roots.

Also known as Pen-jing or scenery on trays, Chinese bonsai is more than a representation of a smaller version of a tree. Tending for it represents artistry and the illusion of maturity. It could also depict a small landscape (for example, the small tree could have a miniature brook and a miniscule mountain beside it).

Chinese bonsai is very much similar to its Japanese counterpart. Let us just define it as the 'bigger picture'. How? A certain category of Chinese bonsai is making use of landscape in a small pot while the Japanese bonsai is putting just the tree in a small container.

As it is called Chinese bonsai, it originated from China and was transported to Japan during the seventh to the ninth century. There are three types of Penjing namely: Tree Penjing, Landscape Penjing and Water & Land Penjing.

Tree Penjing is the most similar to the Japanese form of bonsais. It is the authentic act of dwarfing trees to fit into small pots or containers.

Landscape Penjing makes use of rocks to depict mountainous regions beyond the miniature tree. Water and Land Penjing, on the other hand, makes use of the former two elements (the tree and some rocks) plus a third element which is the water to complete the landscape illusion.

Chinese bonsai is also considered as a spiritual object. The act itself of pruning, cultivating and generally tending for the plant exudes spirituality on a different level. It is believed that the closer a man gets to Mother Nature, the better able he is in understanding himself.

You need no spiritual training to be able to appreciate the beauty of Chinese bonsai. In its own right, it is a work of art and a source of serenity-nobody, in his right mind, would dispute.