Bamboo and Chinese Culture

This book provides a detailed and comprehensive exposition of the role of bamboo in various aspects of the life, production, writing, religion, art and philosophy of the Chinese people.

This book is a detailed and comprehensive examination of the physical, symbolic and cultural uses of bamboo in China, where it has long had a ubiquitous presence in all aspects of the lives of the Chinese people: how and what they eat, what they wear, where they live, how they travel, as well as their productive activities, writing, religion, art and philosophy. The authors adopt the theoretical methods of culturology, axiology and semiotics to understand the implications and characteristics of bamboo within traditional Chinese culture. Based on the diachronic and synchronic coordinates, the authors present the multidimensional structure of China's bamboo culture from the micro-, meso- and macro-perspectives. The book combines a rich body of literature and field investigation reports with indepth and systematic theoretical analysis and interpretation. Together with around two-hundred illustrations, the authors hope to explain the profound in simple terms in this academic monograph.

Autorentext

A native of Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, with a Ph.D. in history, He Ming is the dean of the School of Ethnology and Sociology at Yunnan University. He is a director of the Southwest Frontier Ethnic Minority Research Center (a key research base of humanities and social sciences of the Ministry of Education) and a doctoral supervisor majoring in ethnology. He specializes in ethnology and cultural anthropology, and has published more than 140 papers in Philosophical Research, Ethno-National Studies, Literary Review, Journal of Literature, History and Philosophy, and Academic Monthly. He has won the second prize of the Second Award for Outstanding Achievement in Social Science by Chinese Youth and the second prize of the Yunnan Province Award for Outstanding Achievements in Philosophy and Social Sciences. A Bai national, Master of History, editor and reviewer at the Editorial Office of Thinking of Yunnan University, Liao Guoqiang is a master supervisor majoring in Chinese economic history and ethnology, and has published more than thirty papers and three academic monographs (co-authored). He has presided over the "Research on Ecological Culture of Ethnic Minorities in China" (2006), a youth project of the National Social Science Fund of China, and won the second prize of the Second Award for Outstanding Achievement in Social Science by Chinese Youth.

Inhalt

Introduction - Bamboo and Food - Household Necessities Made with Bamboo - Bamboo Tools of Production - Bamboo Buildings - Bamboo Transport Facilities and Tools - Bamboo Stationery - Bamboo Handicrafts - Bamboo Musical Instruments Bamboo Musical Instruments - Bamboo as Religious Symbol - Bamboo as a Literary Symbol - Bamboo as a Painting Symbol - Bamboo as a Personality Symbol - Conclusion: Characteristics of Chinese Traditional Culture in Bamboo Culture.