Page 52 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2014Q4

Elegance &

Grace Bamboo

Bonsai

By Kunfang Su, Founding President,
Nantou County Bamboo & Stone Association, Taiwan

Translated from Chinese by Katie Chen

Bamboo and Chinese Culture
Bamboo has played a major role in Chinese culture, and carries a close rela-
tionship with ancient Chinese civilization. Shennong, a legendary ruler of
ancient China, tested hundreds of herbs in order to learn their medicinal quali-
ties, and discovered that bamboo has various remedial attributes. He also began
to use bamboo to make farm tools. Leizu, the legendary Chinese empress who
discovered silk, and created sericulture and the silk loom in the 27th century
BC, used bamboo trays to raise silkworms. Cang-jei, one of the sole pioneers
behind the creation of Chinese characters, who claimed to be an official histo-
rian of the Emperor, used a bamboo notebook to record historical events. It is
apparent that bamboo has always been an integral part of the development of
Chinese culture. Su Dongpo, a Chinese writer, poet, and painter of the Song
Dynasty, once said: “I eat bamboo shoots, shelter under bamboo roofs, am
transported via bamboo rafts, cook with bamboo utensils, wear bamboo-woven
clothes, read bamboo books, write on bamboo paper, walk in bamboo shoes—I
truly cannot live a day without bamboo.” Bamboo grows tall and straight,
and the innermost regions of the stem are hollow, symbolizing uprightness,
tenacity and the hollow heart (“humble” in Chinese) of human character. In
Chinese culture, the bamboo, plum blossom, orchid and chrysanthemum are
collectively referred to as the “Four Gentlemen” in Confucian ideology. The
pine, the bamboo and the plum blossom are together known as the “Three
Friends of Winter,” due to their perseverance under harsh winter conditions.
Su Dongpo advocated that plum, bamboo, and stone, instead of pine, are the
“Three Good Friends.” We can clearly see that bamboo plays is prevalent in
traditional Chinese culture. From the ancient Chinese poets who wrote poems
about bamboo to all the people who plant bamboo in their gardens to enjoy the
natural beauty of life, bamboo has shaped much of the history and civilization
of the Chinese people.

Genus and The Geography of Bamboo
There are total of 65 bamboo genera that are divided into about 1,250 species.
Different bamboo species are mainly found in the region between the Tropic of
Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer. In Taiwan (Formosa), there are 28 kinds of
native species. With the introduction of alien species, there are now more than
120 species of bamboo, with forest area rounding out more than 130,000 hect-
ares. The main bamboo species are Makino Bamboo (Phyllostachys Makinoi),

50 | BCI | October/November/December 2014