Bamboo in Chinese Culture
Ertuğrul CeylanChina is a very rich country among world civilizations in terms of cultural symbols, and bamboo is one of the important symbols of Chinese culture. Bamboo is one of the materials most widely used by the Chinese due to its properties such as lightness, strength, flexibility, and quick growth. Bamboo forests play a significant role in world geography and are quite large, especially in the region of East Asia. China is one of the countries with the largest bamboo areas in this region. As a natural consequence, bamboo has become an important component of Chinese civilization and has exceeded the limits of being just an agricultural product. Therefore, to not find bamboo-related objects, constructions, descriptions, concepts, images, and works of art in Chinese culture, literature, art, philosophy, and beliefs is practically impossible. The first written sources regarding bamboo started with Chinese fortune-telling inscriptions and have survived to the present day by preserving their existence in the later written forms of the Chinese language. This study examines the place and significance of bamboo in Chinese culture as one of the prominent symbols of Chinese cultural history based on Chinese sources and will trace evidence of the cultural existence of bamboo, especially in daily life, military, art, and Confucian thought.
Çin Kültüründe Bambu
Ertuğrul CeylanÇin, dünya medeniyetleri arasında kültür simgesi açısından oldukça zengin bir ülkedir. Çin kültürünün önemli simgelerinden biri de bambudur. Bambu hafif, güçlü, esnek ve hızlı büyüme gibi özelliklerinden dolayı Çinlilerin en yaygın olarak kullandığı malzemelerin başında gelmektedir. Dünya coğrafyasında önemli bir yer teşkil eden bambu alanları özellikle Doğu Asya bölgesinde oldukça geniştir. Çin, bu bölgede bambu alanları en geniş ülkelerin başında gelmektedir. Bunun doğal bir sonucu olarak bambu sadece tarımsal bir ürün olmanın sınırlarını aşarak Çin medeniyetinin önemli bir bileşeni olmuştur. Bundan dolayı Çin kültüründe, Çin edebiyatında, Çin sanatında, Çin felsefesinde ve Çin inançlarında bambu ile ilgili eşya, inşa, betimleme, kavram, imge ve sanat eseri görmemek neredeyse imkansızdır. Bambu hakkında ilk yazılı bilgiler Çin fal yazıtları ile başlamış ve sonraki Çin dili yazı formlarında varlığını koruyarak günümüze kadar ulaşmıştır. Bu çalışma, genellikle Çin kaynakları incelenerek Çin kültür tarihinin en önemli simgelerinden biri olan bambunun Çin kültüründeki yeri ve önemi üzerinedir. Çalışmada özellikle günlük yaşamda, askeri alanda, sanatta ve Konfüçyüs düşüncesinde bambunun kültürel varlığının izleri takip edilmiştir.
Forests have an important place in cultural life that started with human hands getting in touch with nature and are also very valuable in Chinese cultural life. In fact, the Chinese describe themselves as a forest-loving culture. This study aims to examine the place and importance of bamboo as one of the first symbols to come to mind when thinking of Chinese culture. Bamboo has occupied a primary place in the life of ancient and modern people due to its properties. It is an important plant that has existed in the life of the Chinese throughout history, and the number of areas in which it is used continues to grow. Therefore, bamboo culture has been used to define Chinese culture, in which bamboo is not only a material used in daily life but has also been the subject of literature, philosophy, and art. Bamboo has occasionally been mentioned in poetic verses, occurred in the stroke of painters’ brushes, and become artistic products from masters’ hands. Chinese traditional culture is built upon bamboo. Traces of bamboo can be seen in homes, in the military, in art, and in Confucian thought. For example, to not find bamboo used in the materials used for constructing a Chinese house, from its doors, living room, bedrooms, and kitchen to many other points, is almost impossible. At the same time, bamboo has been used to make bows and arrows for the military, rafts at sea, and medicinal drugs, in addition to being used as both a painting material and a theme in art. Bamboo was the chief material used in writing and recording in ancient China. Therefore, bamboo is one of the first witnesses of its history and other branches of science. Thus, bamboo has made an important contribution to the development of many branches of science, especially history. When considering the sciences such as history, literature, philosophy, medicine, and astronomy that have been recorded on bamboo scrolls, one can say that bamboo has become the memory of science. With regard to historical record keeping in particular, when looking at the inscriptions stacked in the form of scrolls, bamboo has served as a kind of memory for China. The Chinese have turned bamboo into an important symbol and still occurs as such, in accordance with the rule, “Culture is the property of the nation that created it.”1 Bamboo has a place in all six arts of Confucian thought, Confucius being one of the first names to come to mind when mentioning China. Learning these six arts was not available to everyone under the conditions of that time, and those who could possess these six arts were considered to be among the elite of Chinese society. Bamboo has a very important position in each sub-heading of the six arts of Confucian thought, by which is meant the essential main lines of Chinese culture. Therefore, the fact that bamboo has an important place in each subheading of Confucian thought shows how important bamboo is to Chinese culture. Bamboo culture started with the touch of the human hand on bamboo and has been strongly preserved throughout history. With the further development of technology, bamboo will undoubtedly continue to touch our lives at more points, and from this perspective, a green bamboo core shows the vitality and freshness of Chinese culture.
