Green Bamboo: Strength in Flexibility
Those who have watched the movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” would be familiar with the imagery of bamboo: flexible yet firm, delicate yet strong. These unique qualities make the bamboo fit snugly into ancient Chinese philosophy and endow the health benefits of the bamboo with an air of wisdom and grace.
History
In China, the highly revered bamboo reflects celestial unity in ancient art, such as ethereal paintings of misty mountains with bamboo leaves, delicate bamboo weavings and bamboo baskets.
The strength of bamboo is apparent when the fury of the atomic bomb unleashed at Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War Two only damaged bamboo marginally. It was also one of the first plants to reappear after the deadly war, thus occupying a special place in the hearts of the Japanese. Visitors to Japan will be charmed by the melodious sound of nature when a breeze rustles through bamboo-made wind chimes.
In Hawaii, where bamboo is known as “ohe”, bamboo crafts have been elevated to an art, with intricate designs of delicate tapa stamps carved from split bamboo.
Before the invention of wheels, bamboo provided stout shafts for carrying baskets woven from bamboo fibres, hence revealing its wide spectrum of uses.
Ecology
Bamboo has strong survival skills. Like grass, it grows rapidly and is able to propagate by itself. Like wood, it is strong and can be found throughout the world. Although bamboo only needs minimal water to sustain itself, as little as 20 inches of rainfall for some species, …
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