Spotted bamboo
Spotted bamboo | |
---|---|
Species | Phyllostachys bambusoides f. lacrima-deae |
Origin | China |
Spotted bamboo refers to several types of bamboo with stems that are mottled by dark spots, sometimes considered to be within the genus Phyllostachys and forms of Phyllostachys bambusoides, also known as teardrop bamboo[1] and as mottled bamboo. Phyllostachys bambusoides forma. lacrima-deae is widely encountered.
Distribution
Phyllostachys bambusoides forma. lacrima-deae, is native to Hunan, Henan, Jiangxi and Zhejiang, and especially the Jiuyi Mountains areas of China.
Uses
The stems of the spotted bamboos are esteemed and cost-effective for making the handles of Chinese brushes, used for calligraphy and painting.
Examples of brushes from the eighth century CE (corresponding to the Tang dynasty, in China) are preserved in the Shōsōin, in Japan; in fact, the prestige value of this type of bamboo was evidently so high at the time that among the Shōsōin treasures are preserved objects made out of some sort of imitation spotted bamboo.[2]
Legendary origins
Legend has it that when
The term "mottled bamboo" is also used to describe online discussion board moderators in Mainland China, because when the word for moderator (版主) is entered using the keyboard in Pinyin, the word for mottled bamboo (斑竹) appears as the first option, as they sound very similar. Hence, mottled bamboo gradually became another way of calling a moderator.
See also
- Cosmopterix phyllostachysea
- Bamboo
- Dongting Lake
- Four Treasures of the Study
- Mottled Bamboo
- Xiaoxiang
- Xiaoxiang poetry
- Xiang River
- Xiang River goddesses
Notes
- ^ Cherrett, 16
- ^ Schafer, 134
- ^ Murck (2000), p. 9.
References
- Cherrett, Pauline (2003). The Practical Art of Chinese Brush Painting. (Leicester: Silverdale Books). ISBN 1-85605-740-2
- Murck, Alfreda (2000). Poetry and Painting in Song China: The Subtle Art of Dissent. Harvard Univ Asia Center. ISBN 978-0-674-00782-6.
- ISBN 978-0-520-05462-2.