From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bamboo i/bæmˈbuː/ (Bambuseae) is a
tribe of
flowering perennial evergreen plants in the grass family
Poaceae, subfamily
Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae.
Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. In bamboos, the internodal regions of the
stem are hollow and the
vascular bundles in the cross section are scattered throughout the stem instead of in a cylindrical arrangement. The
dicotyledonous woody xylem is also absent. The absence of secondary growth wood causes the stems of
monocots, even of
palms and large bamboos, to be columnar rather than tapering.
[1]
Bamboos are some of the fastest-growing plants in the world,
[2] due to a unique
rhizome-dependent system. Bamboos are of notable economic and cultural significance in South Asia,
Southeast Asia and East Asia, being used for
building materials, as a food source, and as a versatile raw product.
Genus and geography
More than 70
genera are divided into about 1,450 species.
[3]
Bamboo species are found in diverse climates, from cold mountains to
hot tropical regions. They occur across East Asia, from 50°N latitude in
Sakhalin[citation needed] through to Northern Australia, and west to India and the
Himalayas.
[4] They also occur in
sub-Saharan Africa, and in the Americas from the
Mid-Atlantic United States[5]
south to Argentina and Chile, reaching their southernmost point
anywhere, at 47°S latitude. Continental Europe is not known to have any
native species of bamboo.
[6]
Recently, some attempts have been made to grow bamboo on a commercial basis in the
Great Lakes region of east-central Africa, especially in Rwanda.
[7][8] Companies in the United States are growing, harvesting and distributing species such as
Henon and
Moso.
[9]
Ecology
Bamboo is one of the fastest-growing plants on Earth, with reported growth rates of 100 cm (39 in) in 24 hours.
[2]
However, the growth rate is dependent on local soil and climatic
conditions, as well as species, and a more typical growth rate for many
commonly cultivated bamboos in temperate climates is in the range of
3–10 centimetres (1.2–3.9 in) per day during the growing period.
Primarily growing in regions of warmer climates during the late
Cretaceous period,
vast fields existed in what is now Asia. Some of the largest timber
bamboo can grow over 30 m (98 ft) tall, and be as large as 15–20 cm
(5.9–7.9 in) in diameter. However, the size range for mature bamboo is
species dependent, with the smallest bamboos reaching only several
inches high at maturity. A typical height range that would cover many of
the common bamboos grown in the United States is 15–40 feet (4.6–12 m),
depending on species.
Unlike trees, individual bamboo stems, or
culms, emerge from the ground at their full diameter and grow to their full height in a single
growing season
of three to four months. During these several months, each new shoot
grows vertically into a culm with no branching out until the majority of
the mature height is reached. Then, the branches extend from the nodes
and leafing out occurs. In the next year, the pulpy wall of each culm
slowly hardens. During the third year, the culm hardens further. The
shoot is now considered a fully mature culm. Over the next 2–5 years
(depending on species), fungus begins to form on the outside of the
culm, which eventually penetrate and overcome the culm. Around 5–8 years
later (species and climate dependent), the fungal growths cause the
culm to collapse and decay. This brief life means culms are ready for
harvest and suitable for use in construction within about three to seven
years. Individual bamboo culms do not get any taller or larger in
diameter in subsequent years than they do in their first year, and they
do not replace any growth lost from pruning or natural breakage. Bamboos
have a wide range of hardiness depending on species and locale. Small
or young specimens of an individual species will produce small culms
initially. As the clump and its rhizome system mature, taller and larger
culms will be produced each year until the plant approaches its
particular species limits of height and diameter.
Many tropical bamboo species will die at or near freezing
temperatures, while some of the hardier or so-called temperate bamboos
can survive temperatures as low as
−29 °C (−20 °F).
Some of the hardiest bamboo species can be grown in places as cold as
USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 5–6, although they typically will defoliate
and may even lose all above-ground growth, yet the rhizomes will survive
and send up shoots again the next spring. In milder climates, such as
USDA Zone 8 and above, some hardy bamboo may remain fully leafed out
year around.
Mass flowering
Most bamboo species flower infrequently. In fact, many bamboos only
flower at intervals as long as 65 or 120 years. These taxa exhibit mass
flowering (or gregarious flowering), with all plants in a particular
species flowering worldwide over a several-year period. The longest mass
flowering interval known is 130 years, and is found for all the species
Phyllostachys bambusoides
(Sieb. & Zucc.). In this species, all plants of the same stock
flower at the same time, regardless of differences in geographic
locations or climatic conditions, and then the bamboo dies. The lack of
environmental impact on the time of flowering indicates the presence of
some sort of “alarm clock” in each cell of the plant which signals the
diversion of all energy to flower production and the cessation of
vegetative growth.
[10] This mechanism, as well as the evolutionary cause behind it, is still largely a mystery.
One theory to explain the
evolution of this
semelparous
mass flowering is the predator satiation hypothesis. This theory argues
that by fruiting at the same time, a population increases the survival
rate of their seeds by flooding the area with fruit so even if predators
eat their fill, seeds will still be left over. By having a flowering
cycle longer than the lifespan of the rodent predators, bamboos can
regulate animal populations by causing starvation during the period
between flowering events. Thus, according to this hypothesis, the death
of the adult clone is due to resource exhaustion, as it would be more
effective for parent plants to devote all resources to creating a large
seed crop than to hold back energy for their own regeneration.
[11]
A second theory, the fire cycle hypothesis, argues that periodic
flowering followed by death of the adult plants has evolved as a
mechanism to create disturbance in the habitat, thus providing the
seedlings with a gap in which to grow. This hypothesis argues that the
dead culms create a large fuel load, and also a large target for
lightning strikes, increasing the likelihood of wildfire.
[12]
Because bamboos can be aggressive as early successional plants, the
seedlings would be able to outstrip other plants and take over the space
left by their parents.
However, both have been disputed for different reasons. The predator
satiation theory does not explain why the flowering cycle is 10 times
longer than the lifespan of the local rodents, something not predicted
by the theory. The bamboo fire cycle theory is considered by a few
scientists to be unreasonable; they argue
[13]
that fires only result from humans and there is no natural fire in
India. This notion is considered wrong based on distribution of
lightning strike data during the dry season throughout India. However,
another argument against this theory is the lack of precedent for any
living organism to harness something as unpredictable as lightning
strikes to increase its chance of survival as part of natural
evolutionary progress.
[14]
The mass fruiting also has direct economic and ecological
consequences, however. The huge increase in available fruit in the
forests often causes a boom in rodent populations, leading to increases
in disease and famine in nearby human populations. For example,
devastating consequences occur when the
Melocanna bambusoides population flowers and fruits once every 30–35 years
[1] around the
Bay of Bengal.
The death of the bamboo plants following their fruiting means the local
people lose their building material, and the large increase in bamboo
fruit leads to a rapid increase in rodent populations. As the number of
rodents increase, they consume all available food, including grain
fields and stored food, sometimes leading to
famine. These rats can also carry dangerous diseases, such as
typhus,
typhoid, and
bubonic plague, which can reach epidemic proportions as the rodents increase in number.
[10][11] The relationship between rat populations and bamboo flowering was examined in a 2009
Nova documentary
Rat Attack.
In any case, flowering produces masses of seeds, typically suspended
from the ends of the branches. These seeds will give rise to a new
generation of plants that may be identical in appearance to those that
preceded the flowering, or they may also produce new cultivars with
different characteristics, such as the presence or absence of striping
or other changes in coloration of the culms.
As animal diet
Bamboo is the main food of the
giant panda, making up 99% of its diet.
Soft bamboo shoots, stems, and leaves are the major food source of the giant panda of
China, the
red panda of Nepal and the
bamboo lemurs of Madagascar. Rats will eat the fruits as described above.
Mountain gorillas of Africa also feed on bamboo, and have been documented consuming bamboo sap which was fermented and alcoholic;
[15] chimps and elephants of the region also eat the stalks.
The larvae of the bamboo borer (the
moth Omphisa fuscidentalis) of Laos,
Myanmar, Thailand and
Yunnan Province, China, feeds off the pulp of live bamboo. In turn, these
caterpillars are considered a
local delicacy.
Cultivation
Commercial timber
Timber is harvested from cultivated and wild stands and some of the larger bamboos, particularly species in the genus
Phyllostachys, are known as "timber bamboos".
Harvesting
Bamboo used for construction purposes must be harvested when the
culms reach their greatest strength and when sugar levels in the
sap are at their lowest, as high sugar content increases the ease and rate of
pest infestation.
Harvesting of bamboo is typically undertaken according to the following cycles:
1) Life cycle of the culm: As each individual
culm
goes through a 5– to 7-year life cycle, culms are ideally allowed to
reach this level of maturity prior to full capacity harvesting. The
clearing out or thinning of culms, particularly older decaying culms,
helps to ensure adequate light and resources for new growth.
Well-maintained clumps may have a productivity three to four times that
of an unharvested wild clump.
2) Life cycle of the culm: Consistent with the life cycle
described above, bamboo is harvested from two to three years through to
five to seven years, depending on the species.
3) Annual cycle: As all growth of new bamboo occurs during the
wet season,
disturbing the clump during this phase will potentially damage the
upcoming crop. Also during this high rainfall period, sap levels are at
their highest, and then diminish towards the
dry season.
Picking immediately prior to the wet/growth season may also damage new
shoots. Hence, harvesting is best at the end of the dry season, a few
months prior to the start of the wet.
4) Daily cycle: During the height of the day,
photosynthesis
is at its peak, producing the highest levels of sugar in sap, making
this the least ideal time of day to harvest. Many traditional
practitioners believe the best time to harvest is at dawn or dusk on a
waning moon. This practice makes sense in terms of both moon cycles,
visibility, and daily cycles.
Leaching
Leaching is the removal of sap after harvest. In many areas of the
world, the sap levels in harvested bamboo are reduced either through
leaching or postharvest photosynthesis. Examples of this practice
include:
- Cut bamboo is raised clear of the ground and leant against the rest
of the clump for one to two weeks until leaves turn yellow to allow full
consumption of sugars by the plant.
- A similar method is undertaken, but with the base of the culm
standing in fresh water, either in a large drum or stream to leach out
sap.
- Cut culms are immersed in a running stream and weighted down for three to four weeks.
- Water is pumped through the freshly cut culms, forcing out the sap
(this method is often used in conjunction with the injection of some
form of treatment).
In the process of water leaching, the bamboo is dried slowly and
evenly in the shade to avoid cracking in the outer skin of the bamboo,
thereby reducing opportunities for pest infestation.
Durability of bamboo in construction is directly related to how well
it is handled from the moment of planting through harvesting,
transportation, storage, design, construction and maintenance. Bamboo
harvested at the correct time of year and then exposed to ground contact
or rain, will break down just as quickly as incorrectly harvested
material.
Ornamental bamboos
The two general patterns for the growth of bamboo are "clumping"
(sympodial) and "running" (monopodial). Clumping bamboo species tend to
spread slowly, as the growth pattern of the rhizomes is to simply expand
the root mass gradually, similar to ornamental grasses. "Running"
bamboos, on the other hand, need to be taken care of in cultivation
because of their potential for aggressive behavior. They spread mainly
through their
roots and/or
rhizomes,
which can spread widely underground and send up new culms to break
through the surface. Running bamboo species are highly variable in their
tendency to spread; this is related to both the species and the
soil and
climate
conditions. Some can send out runners of several metres a year, while
others can stay in the same general area for long periods. If neglected,
over time they can cause problems by moving into adjacent areas.
Bamboos seldom and unpredictably flower, and the frequency of
flowering varies greatly from species to species. Once flowering takes
place, a plant will decline and often die entirely. Although there are
always a few species of bamboo in flower at any given time, collectors
desiring to grow specific bamboo typically obtain their plants as
divisions of already-growing plants, rather than waiting for seeds to be
produced.
Regular maintenance will indicate major growth directions and
locations. Once the rhizomes are cut, they are typically removed;
however, rhizomes take a number of months to mature, and an immature,
severed rhizome will usually cease growing if left in-ground. If any
bamboo shoots come up outside of the bamboo area afterwards, their
presence indicates the precise location of the missed rhizome. The
fibrous roots that radiate from the rhizomes do not produce more bamboo
if they stay in the ground.
Bamboo growth can also be controlled by surrounding the plant or
grove with a physical barrier. Typically, concrete and specially rolled
HDPE
plastic are the materials used to create the barrier, which is placed
in a 60– to 90-cm-deep ditch around the planting, and angled out at the
top to direct the rhizomes to the surface. (This is only possible if the
barrier is installed in a straight line.) If the containment area is
small, this method can be detrimental to ornamental bamboo, as the
bamboo within can become rootbound and start to display the signs of any
unhealthy containerized plant. In addition, rhizomes can escape over
the top, or beneath the barrier if it is not deep enough. Strong
rhizomes and tools can penetrate plastic barriers, so care must be
taken. In small areas, regular maintenance may be the best method for
controlling the running bamboos. Barriers and edging are unnecessary for
clump-forming bamboos, although these may eventually need to have
portions removed if they become too large.
The
ornamental plant sold in containers and marketed as "lucky bamboo" is actually an entirely unrelated plant,
Dracaena sanderiana.
It is a resilient member of the lily family that grows in the dark,
tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia and Africa. Lucky bamboo has long
been associated with the Eastern practice of
feng shui. On a similar note,
Japanese knotweed is also sometimes mistaken for a bamboo, but it grows wild and is considered an invasive species.
Uses
Culinary
Main article:
Bamboo shoot
Edible bamboo shoots in a Japanese market
Khao lam (
Thai:
ข้าวหลาม) is
glutinous rice with sugar and coconut cream cooked in specially prepared bamboo sections of different diameters and lengths
The shoots (new culms that come out of the ground) of bamboo are
edible. They are used in numerous Asian dishes and broths, and are
available in supermarkets in various sliced forms, in both fresh and
canned versions. The shoots of the giant bamboo (
Cathariostachys madagascariensis) contain
cyanide. Despite this, the
golden bamboo lemur ingests many times the quantity of toxin that would kill a human.
The bamboo shoot in its fermented state forms an important ingredient
in cuisines across the Himalayas. In Assam, India, for example, it is
called
khorisa. In Nepal, a delicacy popular across ethnic
boundaries consists of bamboo shoots fermented with turmeric and oil,
and cooked with potatoes into a dish that usually accompanies rice (
alu tama in Nepali).
In Indonesia, they are sliced thin and then boiled with
santan (thick coconut milk) and spices to make a dish called
gulai rebung. Other recipes using bamboo shoots are
sayur lodeh (mixed vegetables in coconut milk) and
lun pia (sometimes written
lumpia:
fried wrapped bamboo shoots with vegetables). The shoots of some
species contain toxins that need to be leached or boiled out before they
can be eaten safely.
Pickled bamboo, used as a condiment, may also be made from the
pith of the young shoots.
The sap of young stalks tapped during the rainy season may be
fermented to make
ulanzi (a sweet wine) or simply made into a soft drink. Bamboo leaves are also used as wrappers for steamed
dumplings which usually contains glutinous rice and other ingredients.
Pickled bamboo shoots (Nepali:
tama) are cooked with black-eyed beans as a delicacy food in Nepal. Many Nepalese restaurant around the world serve this dish as
aloo bodi tama.
Fresh bamboo shoots are sliced and pickled with mustard seeds and
turmeric and kept in glass jar in direct sunlight for the best taste. It
is used alongside many dried beans in cooking during winter months.
Baby shoots (Nepali: tusa) of a very different variety of bamboo
(Nepali: Nigalo) native to Nepal is cooked as a curry in Hilly regions.
In
Sambalpur, India, the tender shoots are grated into
juliennes and
fermented to prepare
kardi. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word for bamboo shoot,
karira. This fermented bamboo shoot is used in various culinary preparations, notably
amil, a sour vegetable soup. It is also made into pancakes using
rice flour
as a binding agent. The shoots that have turned a little fibrous are
fermented, dried, and ground to sand-sized particles to prepare a
garnish known as
hendua. It is also cooked with tender pumpkin leaves to make sag green leaves.
The empty hollow in the stalks of larger bamboo is often used to cook
food in many Asian cultures. Soups are boiled and rice is cooked in the
hollows of fresh stalks of bamboo directly over a flame. Similarly,
steamed tea is sometimes rammed into bamboo hollows to produce
compressed forms of
Pu-erh tea. Cooking food in bamboo is said to give the food a subtle but distinctive taste.
In addition, bamboo is frequently used for cooking utensils within many cultures, and is used in the manufacture of
chopsticks. In modern times, some see bamboo tools as an ecofriendly alternative to other manufactured utensils.
Medicine
Bamboo is used in
Chinese medicine for treating infections and healing.
In
Ayurveda, the Indian system of traditional medicine, the silicious concretion found in the culms of the bamboo stem is called
banslochan. It is known as
tabashir or
tawashir in
unani-tibb
the Indo-Persian system of medicine. In English, it is called "bamboo
manna". This concretion is said to be a tonic for the respiratory
diseases.
[citation needed] It was earlier obtained from
Melocanna bambusoides and is very hard to get. In most Indian literature,
Bambusa arundinacea is described as the source of bamboo manna.
[16]
Construction
House made entirely of bamboo
In its natural form, bamboo as a construction material is
traditionally associated with the cultures of South Asia, East Asia and
the South Pacific, to some extent in Central and South America, and by
extension in the aesthetic of
Tiki culture. In China and India, bamboo was used to hold up
simple suspension bridges,
either by making cables of split bamboo or twisting whole culms of
sufficiently pliable bamboo together. One such bridge in the area of
Qian-Xian is referenced in writings dating back 960 AD, and may have
stood since as far back as the third century BC, due largely to
continuous maintenance.
[17]
Bamboo has also long been used as scaffolding; the practice has been
banned in China for buildings over six storeys, but is still in
continuous use for skyscrapers in Hong Kong.
[18] In the Philippines, the
nipa hut is a fairly typical example of the most basic sort of
housing where bamboo is used; the walls are split and woven bamboo, and bamboo slats and poles may be used as its support. In
Japanese architecture,
bamboo is used primarily as a supplemental and/or decorative element in
buildings such as fencing, fountains, grates and gutters, largely due
to the ready abundance of quality timber.
[19]
Various structural shapes may be made by training the bamboo to
assume them as it grows. Squared sections of bamboo are created by
compressing the growing stalk within a square form.
[20]
Arches may similarly be created by forcing the bamboo's growth with the
desired form, and costs much less than it would to assume the same
shape in regular wood timber. More traditional forming methods, such as
the application of heat and pressure, may also be used to curve or
flatten the cut stalks.
[21]
Bamboo can be cut and laminated into sheets and planks. This process
involves cutting stalks into thin strips, planing them flat, boiling and
drying the strips; they are then glued, pressed and finished.
[22] Generally long used in China and Japan, entrepreneurs started developing and selling laminated
bamboo flooring in the West during the mid 1990s;
[22]
products made from bamboo laminate, including flooring, cabinetry,
furniture and even decorations, are currently surging in popularity,
transitioning from the boutique market to mainstream providers, such as
Home Depot. The bamboo goods industry (which also includes small goods, fabric, etc.) is expected to be worth $25 billion by 2012.
[23]
The quality of bamboo laminate varies between manufacturers and the
maturity of the plant from which it was harvested (six years being
considered the optimum); the sturdiest products fulfil their claims of
being up to three times harder than
oak hardwood, but others may be softer than standard hardwood.
[22]
Bamboo intended for use in construction should be treated to resist
insects and rot. The most common solution for this purpose is a mixture
of
borax and
boric acid.
[24] Another process involves boiling cut bamboo to remove the starches that attract insects.
[22]
Bamboo pavilion in the Shenzhen Biennale
Bamboo has been used as reinforcement for concrete in those areas
where it is plentiful, though dispute exists over its effectiveness in
the various studies done on the subject. Bamboo does have the necessary
strength to fulfil this function, but untreated bamboo will swell from
the absorption of water from the concrete, causing it to crack. Several
procedures must be followed to overcome this shortcoming.
[25]
Several institutes, businesses, and universities are researching the
use of bamboo as an ecological construction material. In the United
States and France, it is possible to get houses made entirely of bamboo
[citation needed],
which are earthquake and cyclone-resistant and internationally
certified. In Bali, Indonesia, an international primary school, the
Green School, is constructed entirely of bamboo, for its beauty and advantages as a sustainable resource. There are three
ISO standards for bamboo as a construction material.
In parts of India, bamboo is used for drying clothes indoors, both as
a rod high up near the ceiling to hang clothes on, and as a stick
wielded with acquired expert skill to hoist, spread, and to take down
the clothes when dry. It is also commonly used to make ladders, which
apart from their normal function, are also used for carrying bodies in
funerals. In
Maharashtra, the bamboo groves and forests are called VeLuvana, the name
velu for bamboo is most likely from Sanskrit, while
vana means forest.
Furthermore, bamboo is also used to create flagpoles for
saffron-coloured,
Hindu religious flags, which can be seen fluttering across India, especially
Bihar and
Uttar Pradesh, as well as in Guyana and Suriname.
Bamboo is used for the structural members of the
India pavilion at
Expo 2010
in Shanghai. The pavilion is the world’s largest bamboo dome, about 34 m
in diameter, with bamboo beams/members overlaid with a ferro-concrete
slab, water-proofing, copper plate, solar PV panels, a small windmill
and live plants. A total of 30 km of bamboo was used. The dome is
supported on 18-m-long steel piles and a series of steel ring beams. The
bamboo was treated with borax and boric acid as a fire retardant and
insecticide and bent in the required shape. The bamboo sections are
joined with reinforcement bars and concrete mortar to achieve necessary
lengths.
[26]
Textiles
Because the fibers of bamboo are very short (less than 3 mm), they are impossible to transform into yarn in a natural process.
[27] The usual process by which textiles labeled as being made of bamboo are produced uses only
rayon
made from the fibers with heavy employment of chemicals. To accomplish
this, the fibers are broken down with chemicals and extruded through
mechanical spinnerets; the chemicals include
lye,
carbon disulfide and strong acids.
[22]
Retailers have sold both end products as "bamboo fabric" to cash in on
bamboo's current ecofriendly cachet; however, the Canadian
Competition Bureau[28] and the US
Federal Trade Commission,
[29]
as of mid-2009, are cracking down on the practice of labeling bamboo
rayon as natural bamboo fabric. Under the guidelines of both agencies,
these products must be labeled as rayon with the optional qualifier
"from bamboo".
[29]
Paper
Bamboo fiber has been used to make paper in China since early times. A
high-quality, handmade paper is still produced in small quantities.
Coarse bamboo paper is still used to make
spirit money in many Chinese communities.
[30]
Bamboo
pulps are mainly produced in China,
Myanmar, Thailand and India, and are used in
printing and writing papers.
[31] The most common bamboo species used for paper are
Dendrocalamus asper and
Bamboo bluemanea. It is also possible to make
dissolving pulp from bamboo. The average fiber length is similar to
hardwoods, but the properties of bamboo pulp are closer to
softwood pulps due to it having a very broad fiber length distribution.
[31]
With the help of molecular tools, it is now possible to distinguish the
superior fiber-yielding species/varieties even at juvenile stages of
their growth, which can help in unadulterated merchandise production.
[32]
Musical instruments
Bamboo displays
Main article:
bamboo display
Other uses
Bamboo has a long history of use in
Asian furniture.
Chinese bamboo furniture is a distinct style based on a millennia-long tradition.
Several manufacturers offer
bamboo bicycles and skateboards.
[33]
Due to its flexibility, bamboo is also used to make
fishing rods. The
split cane rod is especially prized for
fly fishing. Bamboo has been traditionally used in
Malaysia as a firecracker called a
meriam buluh
or bamboo cannon. Four-foot-long sections of bamboo are cut, and a
mixture of water and calcium carbide are introduced. The resulting
acetylene gas is ignited with a stick, producing a loud bang. Bamboo can
be used in
water desalination. A bamboo filter is used to remove the salt from seawater.
[34]
In Asian culture
Bamboo's long life makes it a Chinese symbol of longevity, while in India it is a symbol of friendship. The rarity of its
blossoming
has led to the flowers' being regarded as a sign of impending famine.
This may be due to rats feeding upon the profusion of flowers, then
multiplying and destroying a large part of the local food supply. The
most recent flowering began in May 2006 (see
Mautam). Bamboo is said to bloom in this manner only about every 50 years (see 28–60 year examples in
FAO: 'gregarious' species table).
In
Chinese culture, the bamboo,
plum blossom,
orchid, and
chrysanthemum (often known as
méi lán zhú jú 梅兰竹菊) are collectively referred to as the
Four Gentlemen. These four plants also represent the four seasons and, in
Confucian ideology, four aspects of the
junzi ("prince" or "noble one"). The
pine (
sōng 松), the bamboo (
zhú 竹), and the plum blossom (
méi 梅) are also admired for their perseverance under harsh conditions, and are together known as the "
Three Friends of Winter" (岁寒三友
suìhán sānyǒu) in Chinese culture. The "Three Friends of Winter" is traditionally used as a system of ranking in Japan, for example in
sushi sets or accommodations at a traditional
ryokan. Pine (
matsu 松) is of the first rank, bamboo (
také 竹) is of second rank, and plum (
ume 梅) is of the third.
Bamboo, noble and useful
Bamboo, one of the “four gentlemen” (bamboo, orchid, plum blossom and
chrysanthemum), plays such an important role in traditional Chinese
culture that it is even regarded as a behaviour model of the gentleman.
As bamboo has some features such as uprightness, tenacity and hollow
heart, people endow bamboo with integrity, elegance and plainness,
though it is not physically strong. Ancient Chinese poets wrote
countless poems to praise bamboo, but actually they were truly talking
about people like bamboo and express their understanding of what a real
gentleman should be like. According to laws, an ancient poet, Bai Juyi
(772–846), thought that to be a gentleman, a man does not need to be
physically strong, but he must be mentally strong, upright, and
perseverant. Just as a bamboo is hollow-hearted, he should open his
heart to accept anything of benefit and never have arrogance or
prejudice. Bamboo is not only a symbol of gentleman, but also an
important role in Buddhism. In the first century, Buddhism was
introduced into China. As canons of Buddhism do not allow its believers
to do anything cruel to animals, meat, egg and fish were not allowed in
the diet. However, people need something nutritious to live; thus, the
tender bamboo shoot (
sǔn筍 in Chinese) became a good choice. The
bamboo shoot is nutritious, and eating it does not violate the canon.
With thousands of years’ development, how to eat bamboo shoot has become
a part of cuisine system, especially for monks. A Buddhist monk, Zan
Ning, wrote a manual of the bamboo shoot called “
Sǔn Pǔ筍譜”. He offered descriptions and recipes for many kinds of bamboo shoots.
[35]
Bamboo shoot has always been a traditional dish on the Chinese dinner
table, especially in southern China. In ancient times, as long as people
have money to buy a big house with yard, they will always plant bamboos
in their garden. Bamboo is a necessary element of Chinese culture, or
even in the whole Asian civilization. People plant bamboos, eat bamboo
shoots, paint bamboos, write poems for bamboos, and speak highly of
gentlemen who are like bamboos. Bamboo is not only a plant, but also a
part of people’s lives.
In Japan, a bamboo forest sometimes surrounds a Shinto
shrine as part of a sacred barrier against
evil. Many Buddhist temples also have bamboo groves.
In northern Indian state of
Assam, the fermented bamboo paste known as
khorisa is known locally as a folk remedy for the treatment of impotence, infertility, and menstrual pains.
A cylindrical bamboo brush holder or holder of poems on scrolls, created
by Zhang Xihuang in the 17th century, late Ming or early Qing Dynasty –
in the
calligraphy of Zhang's style, the poem
Returning to My Farm in the Field by the fourth-century poet
Tao Yuanming is incised on the holder.
Bamboo-style barred window in Lin An Tai Historical House,
Taipei
Bamboo plays an important part of the
culture of Vietnam. Bamboo symbolizes the spirit of
Vovinam (a Vietnamese martial arts):
cương nhu phối triển (coordination between
hard and soft (martial arts)).
Bamboo also symbolizes the Vietnamese hometown and Vietnamese soul: the
gentlemanlike, straightforwardness, hard working, optimism, unity and
adaptability. A Vietnamese proverb says, "When the bamboo is old, the
bamboo sprouts appear", the meaning being Vietnam will never be
annihilated; if the previous generation dies, the children take their
place. Therefore, the Vietnam nation and Vietnamese value will be
maintained and developed eternally. Traditional Vietnamese villages are
surrounded by thick bamboo hedges (
lũy tre).
The
Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD) Chinese scientist and
polymath Shen Kuo (1031–1095) used the evidence of underground
petrified bamboo found in the dry northern climate of
Yan'an,
Shanbei region,
Shaanxi province to support his geological theory of gradual
climate change.
[36][37]
Myths and legends
Several Asian cultures, including that of the
Andaman Islands,
believe humanity emerged from a bamboo stem. In the Philippine creation
myth, legend tells that the first man and the first woman each emerged
from split bamboo stems on an island created after the battle of the
elemental forces (Sky and Ocean). In Malaysian legends a similar story
includes a man who dreams of a beautiful woman while sleeping under a
bamboo plant; he wakes up and breaks the bamboo stem, discovering the
woman inside. The
Japanese folktale "
Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" (
Taketori Monogatari) tells of a princess from the Moon emerging from a shining bamboo section.
Hawaiian bamboo
('ohe) is a
kinolau or body form of the
Polynesian creator god
Kāne.
Bamboo cane is also the weapon of
Vietnamese legendary hero
Saint Giong
– who had grown up immediately and magically since the age of three
because of his national liberating wish against Ân invaders.
An ancient Vietnamese legend (
The Hundred-knot Bamboo Tree)
tells of a poor, young farmer who fell in love with his landlord's
beautiful daughter. The farmer asked the landlord for his daughter's
hand in marriage, but the proud landlord would not allow her to be bound
in marriage to a poor farmer. The landlord decided to foil the marriage
with an impossible deal; the farmer must bring him a "bamboo tree of
100
nodes". But
Buddha (
Bụt) appeared to the farmer and told him that such a tree could be made from 100 nodes from several different trees.
Bụt gave to him four magic words to attach the many nodes of bamboo:
Khắc nhập, khắc xuất,
which means "joined together immediately, fell apart immediately". The
triumphant farmer returned to the landlord and demanded his daughter.
Curious to see such a long bamboo, the landlord was magically joined to
the bamboo when he touched it, as the young farmer said the first two
magic words. The story ends with the happy marriage of the farmer and
the landlord's daughter after the landlord agreed to the marriage and
asked to be separated from the bamboo.
In a Chinese legend, the
Emperor Yao gave two of his daughters to the future
Emperor Shun
as a test for his potential to rule . Shun passed the test of being
able to run his household with the two emperor's daughters as wives, and
thus Yao made Shun his successor, bypassing his unworthy son. Later,
Shun drowned in the
Xiang River. The tears his two bereaved wives let fall upon the bamboos growing there explains the origin of
spotted bamboo. The two women later became goddesses.
As a writing surface
Bamboo was in widespread use in early China as a medium for written
documents. The earliest surviving examples of such documents, written in
ink on string-bound bundles of bamboo strips (or "slips"), date from
the fifth century BC during the
Warring States period. However, references in earlier texts surviving on other media make it clear that some precursor of these
Warring States period bamboo slips was in use as early as the late
Shang period (from about 1250 BC).
Bamboo or wooden strips were the standard writing material during the
Han dynasty, and excavated examples have been found in abundance.
[38] Subsequently,
paper
began to displace bamboo and wooden strips from mainstream uses, and by
the fourth century AD, bamboo slips had been largely abandoned as a
medium for writing in China. Several paper industries are surviving on
bamboo forests. Ballarpur (Chandrapur, Maharstra) paper mills use bamboo
for paper production.