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 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
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.
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
The is the treasure house of Tōdai-ji Temple in Nara, Japan. The building is in the ''azekura'' ( log-cabin) style with a raised floor. It lies to the northwest of the Great Buddha Hall. The Shōsō-in houses artifacts connected to Emperor Shō ...
, 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.
[Schafer, 134]
Legendary origins
Legend has it that when
Emperor Shun
Emperor Shun () was a legendary leader of ancient China, regarded by some sources as one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors being the last of the Five Emperors. Tradition holds that he lived sometime between 2294 and 2184 BC. Tradition a ...
died suddenly during a trip to
Cangwu, the tears of his two concubines, (the
Xiang River goddesses Ehuang (娥皇) and Nüying (女英)) dropped onto surrounding bamboo and stained it forever. Mottled bamboo is known for being a decorative plant. The Chinese name of originates from the legend. ''Xiang'' (湘) refers to the
Xiang River, where the story supposedly took place, ''fei'' (妃) means "concubine" and ''zhu'' (竹) means "bamboo", thus the "bamboo of the concubines by the Xiang River".
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 (), also transliterated ''XiaoXiang'', ''Hsiao Hsiang'', and ''Chiu Chiang'', in some older sources, refers to the "lakes and rivers" region in south-central China south of the middle-reaches of the Yangtze River and corresponding, more ...
*
Xiaoxiang poetry
*
Xiang River
*
Xiang River goddesses
Notes
References
*Cherrett, Pauline (2003). ''The Practical Art of Chinese Brush Painting''. (Leicester: Silverdale Books).
*
*
Schafer, Edward H. ''The Golden Peaches of Samarkand''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985. {{ISBN, 978-0-520-05462-2.
Bambusoideae
Bamboo
Chinese poetry allusions
Plant common names