Mame tend not to have the same perfection as a larger tree because it is difficult to achieve. The orginal tree had excellent character and age with its form and nebrari (it will have to remain a mame forever if grown this way since it will not grow into a good large tree). I do think the canopy of the orginal tree should be redone, so I agree on that. I know the nebrari isn't the idealistic one but I think they are guidelines and depends on the styling of the tree. The orginal tree was not styled in a formal way and I would expect a broader canopy to match its roots. I also think that tree would have been a excellent companion tree for a larger tree in a display after some work on the canopy. I imagine either a short tree with a broad canopy or semi cascade or slant in the future with the nebrari you have.
'Bonsai' is a name that can be used nowadays to gather all these similar stylings of asian trees together in the western world. Some how Japanese (bonsai), vietnamese (Cay canh, I am not sure about this one though) and Chinese (penjing) have their own names for their hobby of training miniature trees when many trees are interchangable. Some people seem to really want to split bonsai and penjing up even though the differences are minor. Somehow japanese names are used in the western world so often even when many things orginated from china, such as bonsai and origami. Perhaps Japanese names are easier to pronouce in english I guess, but i'm not sure if we pronouce them right as I am not japanese.
The major flaw of the large tree in the "photo of inspiration" is that the two bottom most branches diverge at the same point. I would probably end up cutting off one of the lowest branches. The eyes are split on which direction do follow. But still an excellent trained tree and I would love to own something that nice....
Anyways I've gotta start using some native trees for my own bonsai because its too cold outside here. My mass produced S-shaped trees aren't very impressive so I'm gonna eventually rid of them or regrow the entire trunk. Regrowing the entire trunk is difficult because they aren't hardy to my winters. I really am starting to hate my fukien tea even though it has good trunk girth for a fukien tea (if my climate was right I would do a trunk chop and regrow the top portion of my fukien tea. I need a green house for these types of trees). Time to eBay some off my bad ones off. The only tree I have with some potential is my large ficus, but it needs years of work to achieve greatness.
I like this tree. It's a pomegranate. Unfortunately I can't find its orginal source, it's not my photo