The Spirits of Bamboo Culture

Bamboo has the title of "gentleman" among other plants. As a symbol of virtue, bamboo is always closely related to people of positive spirits. Famous Tang Dynasty (618-907) poet Bai Juyi (772-846) summarized the merits of bamboo according to its characteristics: its deep root denotes resoluteness, straight stem represents honorability, its interior modesty and its clean exterior exemplifies chastity. Bamboo culture always plays a positive role in encouraging people to hold on when facing tough situations.

Stories of Bamboo Culture

Throughout history, bamboo has given inspiration to many artists. A large number of artistic works have been made with the theme of bamboo, including poems, paintings and music. There are lots of legends and stories derived from bamboo culture.

1. Mottled Bamboo (Bamboo of Imperial Concubines)

According to legend, during the reign of Emperor Shun (an emperor of the far ancient age of China more than 2,000 years ago), there are nine evil dragons on the Jiuyishan Mountain of Hunan province. Emperor Shun decided to help his people kill the evil dragon, because his people were suffering from the disasters brought by the evil dragons.

Ages passed, and Emperor Shun did not return. His two wives, Ehuang and Nuying were worried about their husband. They decided to go to Hunan to look for Emperor Shun. They were told Emperor Shun died trying killing the dragons. At hearing the sad news, they cried tears of despair. The tears fell on the soil by the Xiangjiang River, and bamboo growing on the river bank was stained. There was something like fingerprints on the bamboo, and people said they are the fingerprints left by the two imperial concubines when wiping their tears. The red mottles on the bamboo came out from the blood of the tears.

2. Mengzong Bamboo

Mengzong, a scholar in ancient China, was a filial son who loved his mother so deeply that one of his stories was listed in the book of "24 Stories of Filial Piety" (the book keeps the records of 24 touching stories of filial people in ancient China).

During one winter, Mengzong’s mother was sick, and she wanted to eat some bamboo shoots. But usually bamboo didn’t grow shoots during winter, so Mengzong failed to find any bamboo shoots for his mother. He cried near the bamboo, and later he found some bamboo shoots at the places he cried. He took the bamboo shoots back home to cook for his mother. After eating the bamboo shoots, Mengzong’s mother became better gradually. People said the bamboo shoots came out because Mengzong’s filial piety had moved the heavens.