| Bamboo was closely connected with the daily lives of people
in ancient China. Su Dongpo (1037-1101),a literary giant of
the Song Dynasty (960-1279),said that people could hot live
without bamboo, and people of the time used bamboo as firewood
and to make tiles, paper, rafts, hats, rain-capes, and shoes.
At that time, as today, bamboo shoots were eaten as a popular
dish because of their crispness and fresh, sweet taste. Bamboo
shoots also contain vitamins, sugar, fat, and protein.
In the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D.220) bamboo was used
for papermaking because it produced high-quality paper and
was inexpensive: three tons of bamboo could yield one ton
of paper pulp. And bamboo is still an important raw material
for papermaking today. Some 1,600 years ago. People wrote
with brushes on xuan paper made from young bamboo. And xuan
paper is still popular for Chinese calligraphy and paintings.
Today, bamboo is widely used for household articles such
as mats, beds, pillows, benches, chairs, cabinets, buckets,
chopsticks, spoons, baskets, and handheld fans. It is also
used to make traditional Chinese musical instruments such
as the
sheng, a reed instrument; the di, a flute; and the xiao,
a flute held vertically.
Woven bamboo arts and crafts come in a wide variety,
including toy animals, lanterns, flower baskets, trays,
tea boxes, screens, and curtains. Bamboo weaving is popular
in the provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, Hunan, Sichuan, and
Anhui as well as Zhejiang which has a history of bamboo
weaving going back more than 2,000 years.
Bamboo is also used in Chinese medicine. The leaves eliminate
heat and phlegm; the juice cures strode, insanity, and a
kind of asthma caused by excessive phlegm; and the root
can stimulate the vital forces, quench thirst, and promote
lactation.
Bamboo's resistance to stretching and its ability to
support weight are at least double those of other kinds
of wood, making bamboo an ideal material for houses, scaffolding,
supporting pillars, and work sheds.
Tall and graceful with luxuriant foliage, bamboo is an
ideal plant for household courtyards and parks. It tolerates
the heat of summer and the cold of winter, it grows on unfertile
land, and it regenerates after being cut.
|
