To a westerner, reinforced by the atomic view of the
past, a tree is but a tree, a mountain is just a
mountain, a lake is but a body of water.  We have a
mechanical view of nature, which is often reflected in
our farms, horticulture and landscaping. Natural
objects can be uprooted and planted according to human
whim without respect for the consequences. 

In the orient, and the west before the rise of
cartesian philosophy, the view is radically different.
The world, in this view, is alive and interconnected. 
To the Chinese and Japanese, what we call nature is
but a medium for the artistry of an unseen hand. 
Everything is charged with the energy of this creator,
rippling through sky, soil and water, in an eternal
dance of ecstasy.  

The main carriers of this force were earth and water,
or as we know it in the west, Feng Shui.  The earth
writhes in energy, and, as I said above, it is
interconnected: everything is tied to other events and
trends, from the sun in the sky to the humblest grain
of sand.  From earthquakes to the growing of the
grass, all rely upon this hidden trophic exchange. 
Nothing in nature exists solely to itself, rather it
grows from working with this energy, by balancing it
out, and being oppurtunistic where it can.

But you don't need to read up on eastern mysticism to
know this.  In the west, we call this ecology.

Peter