Page 52 - Demo

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