Chinese characters are often used in the written .Iapanese and are call \. kanji ', . The two kanji for the ,Japanese Emperor's name .. Akihito ,, are an (Aki) .t- (Hito). However, the same Chinese character does not always hawe the same meaning to both the chinese and the Japanese. For example, the ,Japanese call a train (not the modern electrical train) " h+ kishia ,t a steam wehicle, because there is steam coming out of the locomotiwe. But the chinese call the train * )t( + huoche il a fire vehicle, because they see coal burning inside the locomotiwe. Interestingly, to the Chinese, the two kanli .. ii.+ " (pronounced \\ chiche ,' in Mandarin) means automobiles not trains. Evidently, the chinese have the same problem with the ,Japanese term .. bonsai ,,. The two Chinese characters (i.e. kanji) for s ,, * bonsai are fi' and {\. ". However, to the Chinese " Aft ,, (pronounced \\ penzai " in Mandarin) simply means any potted plants with no artistic design. Therefore, most Chinese prefer to use the term " penjing ,, for both the tree and the landscape penjirg, while some will use .. bonsai ,, solely for tree penjing. There are fiwe major schools of tree penjing in China, namely Lingnan, Shanghai, Sichuan, Suzhou, and Yanqzhou, each with its regiional characteristics. Although there are physical, regionar, artistic, and philosophical differences between tree penjing and bonsai (and even between different schoors of penji.g), r believe that they all create the tranquillity and serenity of an old tree or a forest. ,Just as the tree penjing developed into bonsai in Japan, I hope the bonsai in the united states will eventually evolwe into its unique style and become the AI'{ERfCAN bonsai. I thank t'liss Karin Albert, Mr. Tom Geeyeen Chan, and Mr. Dawid w. Fukumoto for their comrnents on this article. Original wersion appeared in Potomac Bonsai Association NEWSLETTER wol. 19, no. 7, 1989..