BONSAI "heaven and earth in one container"

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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. Bonsai can be developed from seeds or cuttings, from young trees or from naturally occurring stunted trees transplanted into containers. Most bonsai range in height from 5 centimetres to 1 metre. Bonsai are kept small and trained by pruning branches and roots, by periodic repotting, by pinching off new growth, and by wiring the branches and trunk so that they grow into the desired shape.The bonsai with its container and soil, physically independent of the earth since its roots are not planted in it, is a separate entity, complete in itself, yet part of nature. This is what is meant by the expression "heaven and earth in one container". A bonsai should always be positioned off-center in its container, for not only is asymmetry vital to the visual effect, but the center is symbolically where heaven and earth meet, and nothing should occupy this place.