Only what comes from nature can achieve beauty that surpasses nature itself.
Bonsai is the artistic recreation of the strange and ancient trees, hills, valleys, forests and springs of nature. To create bonsai, one must first collect materials, so that hills, valleys, forests and springs dwell in the mind, and only then can there be any "recreation" to speak of. Therefore, learning from nature is the prerequisite for creation. Since it is creation, it is not a photographic "miniature," nor a copy or transcription of nature. In bonsai creation, techniques such as pruning, selection and rejection, rendering and exaggeration must be used in order to recreate nature in a more concentrated and more typical way. "How can a mountain range of a thousand li be entirely wondrous? How can waters of ten thousand li be entirely beautiful?" Therefore, one must take the essence and discard the dross, and apply a technique that combines romanticism with realism, so that bonsai, originating from nature, can rise above nature and surpass nature's own workmanship.
Only through careful observation and in-depth study of scenery, and by capturing its characteristics, can the bonsai practitioner achieve the confidence of having a plan in mind at the moment of creation, as easy as reaching into a bag to take something out. Spring, summer, autumn and winter; morning and evening, clear skies and rain, all change in countless ways. Trees: some vigorous and bold, some elegant and free, some doddering with age, some brimming with life, some graceful and charming; the elegance of bamboo, the strength of pine, the fragrant charm of osmanthus, the loveliness of crabapple; mountains: some secluded, some beautiful, some perilous, some majestic, some wondrous. For every material, only by observing it in the finest detail, grasping its features, its spirit, its bearing, and by seeking out all wondrous peaks to make one's drafts, can the creative subject matter be rich and varied, and the imagery and composition be beautiful and moving. Only with novel conception can one "respond to things and give them form, and follow their kinds to apply color," so that the work not only achieves "formal likeness" but also reaches "spiritual likeness," making it vivid and moving.
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