Bonsai

A living wood object whose form is the point — the tradition reads it by shape as much as by element. Bonsai is wood by material and is read additionally by its trained shape: the form school's shape principles apply at this scale. The practice's usual caution is that a deliberately stunted tree carries a different reading from a free-growing one.

This database documents placement principles, not outcomes. A living wood object whose form is the point — the tradition reads it by shape as much as by element. The bonsai is the one plant object where the tradition's own logic produces an unfavourable reading, which is a useful reminder that the practice is not simply a list of auspicious objects.

The sources' plant rules apply — living and healthy — and the shape rules add a qualification: the tradition generally prefers plants that grow freely indoors, and treats restricted growth as a statement about restriction. It is grouped under Wood (木) in the five-element system.