Works of bamboo painting, usually in ink, are a recognized genre of

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

n painting. In a work of bamboo painting in ink, a skilled artist and

calligrapher Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an exp ...

will paint a

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

stalk or group of stalks with leaves. The

contrast Contrast may refer to: Science * Contrast (vision), the contradiction in form, colour and light between parts of an image * Contrast (statistics), a combination of averages whose coefficients add up to zero, or the difference between two means * ...

between the foreground and background, and between the varying textures represented by the stalks and the leaves, gave scope to the painter to demonstrate his or her mastery with an inkpot and a brush. The bamboo painter often inscribes a

poem Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

that accompanies the painting and further elucidates the motif. The poem is often an integral part of the work as a whole. A viewer of the work can compare the calligraphy of the poem with the calligraphy of the painting, as both are typically inscribed with the same brush and reflect a similar mood and state of awareness. A standard primer on classical East Asian bamboo painting is Hu Zhengyan's "Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Painting and Calligraphy" (1633), with

woodblock print Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later on paper. Each page or image is creat ...

illustrations. Because of the volume of bamboo works painted over time, the production of a work of ink bamboo became one of the standard subjects to which an East Asian student could be set in a competitive examination. Like bamboo painting,

bambooworking Bambooworking is the activity or skill of making items from bamboo, and includes architecture, carpentry, furniture and cabinetry, carving, joinery, and weaving. Its historical roots in Asia span cultures, civilizations, and millennia, and is fou ...

is found across East Asia as bamboo is regarded as culturally significant.

Appreciation

From the days of their common origin, Chinese painting and Chinese writing have been allied arts. They use the same equipment and share aims, techniques, and standards. Ever since the beginning, bamboo has been written and also been painted in the same manner, in other words, a work depicting bamboo is both a painting and a piece of calligraphy. There are so-called “bamboo painters” who all their lives paint only bamboo. The bamboo is strong, upright, and dependable. He may bend with the wind, the storm and the rain, but he never breaks. He is a true gentleman of courage and endurance (Ju 1989). The

plant came under close observation by many East Asians because of its persistence and vegetative productivity. The plant was especially appreciated by men and women educated in the tradition of

Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...

. It came to be seen as an exemplar of moral force, and appreciating the bamboo was seen as an act of

self-cultivation Self-cultivation or personal cultivation () is the development of one's mind or capacities through one's own efforts. Self-cultivation is the cultivation, integration, and coordination of mind and body. Although self-cultivation may be practice ...

. It was said of the ink bamboo painter

Wen Tong Wen Tong () (1019–1079)Barnhart, Page 373. Wen Tong's style name was Yuke (与可) with several sobriquets: Jinjiang Daren(锦江道人), Xiaoxiao Jushi (笑笑居士), and Shishi Xiansheng (石室先生) was a Northern Song painter born in Sic ...

that "there are whole bamboos in his heart" (胸有成竹).

Bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

is not exclusive to the Four Noble Kind group. It also belongs to a distinct group where it openly fraternizes with

pine trees A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

and

plum blossoms ''Prunus mume'', the Chinese plum or Japanese apricot, is a tree species in the family Rosaceae. Along with bamboo, the plant is intimately associated with art, literature, and everyday life in China, from where it was then introduced to Kor ...

. Collectively, they are called the

Three Friends of Winter The Three Friends of Winter is an art motif that comprises the pine, bamboo, and plum. The Chinese celebrated the pine (松), bamboo (竹) and Chinese flowering plum (梅) together, for they observed that unlike many other plants these plants ...

because

and

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

do not wither on winter days and the plum blossoms starts blooming during the cold season. Bamboo also exhibits a certain visual appeal on educated people because its

silhouette A silhouette (, ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhouett ...

cast by either the sun or moon on the paper windows of a Chinese house produced a poetic effect. Its straight stalk was the symbol of the sage, in that adversity could always bend it but it could never break it. The inner region of the bamboo stalk symbolizes the void that must be established in one's mind before thinking of useful ideas. To put it in simpler terms, one should always have clarity of mind when dealing with things to avoid chaos and to achieve desired results. On the technical area, one needed to be an expert with the brush in order to execute perfectly cylindrical, smooth and hard

internodes A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant, the other being the root. It supports leaves, flowers and fruits, transports water and dissolved substances between the roots and the shoots in the xylem and phloem, engages in pho ...

, and thin, translucid, nervous leaves placed in various perspectives. One should also have a keen talent in identifying where to place dark tones and light tones in the painting. These characteristics are enough to validate that bamboo is a complete subject because it portrays lasting values one needed to get on with life and it commands a truly talented painter to create varying tones that never repeat.

Bamboo Art

File:Bamboo and Stone by Guan Daosheng.jpg, ''Bamboo and Stone'' (竹石圖) by

Guan Daosheng Guan Daosheng, also known as Guan Zhongji or Lady Zhongji (her courtesy name) (; 字仲姬；1262–1319), was a Chinese painter and poet who was active during the early Yuan dynasty. She is credited with being "the most famous female painter an ...

File:Wang Fu-Ink Bamboo.jpg, ''Ink Bamboo'' (墨竹圖) by Wang Fu File:Gu An-Ink Bamboo.jpg, ''Ink Bamboo'' (墨竹圖) by

Gu An Gu An (; (ca. 1289–after 1365), style name as Dingzhi (), style name, pseudonym as Yuna Jushi (), was a famed Chinese people, Chinese painter in the Yuan Dynasty. Gu An as born in Huaidong (淮東 - present day Kunshan in Jiangsu Province) ...

File:Ke Jiusi-Twin Bamboo.jpg, ''Twin Bamboo'' (雙竹圖) by

Ke Jiusi Ke Jiusi (; c. 1290 – 1343) was a Chinese landscape painter, calligrapher, and poet during the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368).Cihai: Page 1282. Ke was born in the Zhejiang province. His style name was 'Jingzhong' (敬仲) and his pseudonyms we ...

File:Xia Chang-Bamboo in Wind.jpg, ''Bamboo in Wind'' (風竹圖) by

Xia Chang Xia Chang (; 1388–1470) originally named Zhu Chang, was a Ming dynasty Chinese painter and government official. Xia specialized in ink bamboo painting, following the style of Wang Fu. His courtesy name was 'Zhongzhao' () and his art names w ...

File:Kitagawa Utamaro - Two Beauties with Bamboo - Google Art Project.jpg,

Kitagawa Utamaro was a Japanese artist. He is one of the most highly regarded designers of ukiyo-e woodblock prints and paintings, and is best known for his ''Bijin-ga, bijin ōkubi-e'' "large-headed pictures of beautiful women" of the 1790s. He also produ ...

- Two Beauties with Bamboo File:Bamboo by Hatta Tomonori (Kagoshima City Museum of Art).jpg, Bamboo by Hatta Tomonori File:Kano Tsunenobu - Tiger Emerging from Bamboo - Google Art Project.jpg, Kano Tsunenobu - Tiger Emerging from Bamboo File:Jubako with design of bamboo shoots, Showa period, Honolulu Museum of Art.JPG, Jubako with design of bamboo shoots, Showa period

References

Buhot, Jean, "Chinese and Japanese Art" Ju, I-Hsiung. The Book of Bamboo. Art Farm Gallery. 1989 {{Commonscat, East Asian bamboo painting Bamboo Chinese iconography Chinese painting Still life paintings

Appreciation

Bamboo Art

See also

References