China has the world's oldest civilization and the oldest proof of a form of artistic pot plants.   But the paintings on the tomb walls are nothing like the bonsai of today.    Aristocratic Chinese penjing are also nothing like the commercial bonsai currently being produced in Chinese communes for export. 

                Aristocratic Chinese penjing are the products of a society that no longer exists.  Its leaders had an extra brilliance and others naturally followed.  Most Chinese never had formal schooling opportunities and learned farming or a trade by doing.  Of those that went to school,  only the brightest and most promising advanced to become literate.   Of these,  only the most successful and wealthy had the time and interest to be part of an elite aristocratic society.

                Aristocrats were secure and confident in their status.  They dabbled in many of the Chinese cultural arts including penjing.  They were "generalists" who weren't especially concerned about details.  They enjoyed growing plants in pots for their own amusement and growing an "ugly weird tree" was appropriate as it was a great conversation subject with visiting friends.  To try to give a flavor,  we invented two rules: