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Ancient Chinese gave the nickname "the four gentlemen" to the prunus, the orchid, the bamboo and the chrysanthemum, and the nickname of "the three friends which grow in winter" to the pine, the bamboo and the prunus. Bai Juyi (772-846), great poet of the Tang dynasty, he summed up the merits of the bamboo as follows : resolute, honest, modest, pure and non-corrupt. He drew th conclusion that the bamboo deserves its title as a gentleman, since it has all these noble qualities. according to the Elders, it possesses life an virtue, furthermore the bamboo has soul and emotion and understands people.
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- Symbolysm, art and tradition
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In Asia the links uniting man and bamboo are very deep. In Antique times, the inhabitants of the Empire of the Middle identify themselves to the bamboo for its qualities of flexibility, stamina and stubbornness.
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Its symbolic
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People consider that it lets its leaves hang because it is hollow inside (its heart is empty). In China an empty heart is a modest heart, the bamboo has become the symbol of this virtue. It always stays green and never changes its shape as seasons go by, that is why it also the emblema for age. The Chinese ideogram representing the bamboo ressembles the one for "laughter" as for Chines people the bamboo is shaken by laughters.
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;- Asian art often represents the bamboo associated with the orchid or the prunus flower. The flower symbolises woman (yin) whereas the bamboo stands for man (yang).
The chinese honor the four noble plants : bamboo, orchid, chrysantemum and prunus which, drawn together, mean happiness and prosperity. ;- ;;
"Chu" is the modern Chinese ideogram for "bamboo". Calligraphy is intimately connected to painting. Getting rid of anything which is not essential is the very first rule.
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