Read this on quora and wanted to share it:
"In his authoritative book on bonsai, first published in about 1950 by Japan Travel Bureau Publications, Norio Kobayashi defines bonsai as "an art of cultivating a plant or a tree in a pot (or tray)". Indeed, bonsai is an art form in which a plant or plants, container and various optional auxiliary items such as stones and gravel, are combined according to time honoured guidelines, into a harmonious, miniaturised, living sculpture. Anything less than this is simply a hachi-ue, a potted plant"
Yes, we have advanced and new styles have developed. That doesn't change the above.