Spotted bamboo refers to several types of

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 ...

with stems that are mottled by dark spots, sometimes considered to be within the genus ''

Phyllostachys ''Phyllostachys'' ( is a genus of Asian bamboo in the grass family. Many of the species are found in central and southern China, with a few species in northern Indochina and in the Himalayas. Some of the species have become naturalized in part ...

'' 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 Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

Jiangxi ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...

and

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

, and especially the Jiuyi Mountains areas of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

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 The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

, in China) are preserved in the

Shōsōin The is the wikt:treasure house, treasure house of Tōdai-ji Temple in Nara, Nara, 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 arti ...

, 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 ( zh, c=帝舜, p=Dì Shùn) 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 229 ...

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 The Xiang River is the chief river of the Lake Dongting drainage system of the middle Yangtze, the largest river in Hunan Province, China. It is the second-largest tributary (after the Min River) in terms of surface runoff, the fifth-largest ...

, 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 "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

, because when the word for moderator (版主) is entered using the keyboard in

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''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.

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

Distribution

Uses

Legendary origins

See also

Notes

References