There are legends about this plant in the East. It was the savior and patron of all times. Weapons and peaceful instruments of labor were made from it. This is an amazing plant that reaches a height of ten meters and is not a tree. This article is about the tallest grass in the world - bamboo.
Bamboo was born in the dispute between sky and sea
Once the sea argued with the sky about which of them is the most powerful. The sea sprayed the sky with its foam. The sky covered the sea with earth and stones. This is how the first islands appeared, and on one of them the first tall plant grew, with many leaves, but without branches - the first bamboo on earth. Then a man and a woman appeared from him, which became the beginning of all mankind.
Bamboo means so much to Asian countries that it even explains the creation of the first people.
This is the story of a Filipino legend. It shows what role bamboo played at all times. This is a very amazing plant. Tall and at the same time not a tree. It looks not very durable, but it can withstand strong gusts of wind. They dedicated poems to him, painted pictures, composed songs.
Have time to grow
The growth rate of bamboo is known even to Europeans. Some varieties of this plant are capable of taking a height bar of 50 centimeters per day. If you think that's a lot, then take a closer look at the Japanese madake bamboo. In strictly controlled laboratory conditions, its stem was able to grow by almost 120 centimeters in 24 hours!
Improper use
Such a high-speed property of the plant was used both for the good and for the detriment of man. People generally try to adapt their best to kill as many of their own kind as possible. And bamboo has found a peculiar use.
The property of bamboo to grow rapidly was used in order to execute people or torture them in a sophisticated way until their death.
In China, the following method of execution was used, based on the property of plants to germinate quickly. They took the sentenced to death and tied a young bamboo over the bed. Previously, the tops of the plants were given a pointed appearance, so that a kind of stakes were obtained.
What happened next was like an extremely sophisticated torture. During the day, the plant increased in growth by tens of centimeters, piercing the skin of the executed in several places. The sprouts dug into his body, germinated inside the abdominal cavity and caused severe torment.
According to eyewitnesses, recorded by chroniclers, a person could die like this for hours, or one of the executioners "helped" him to go to the next world faster with the help of a beheading or poison.
Bamboo poetry
But not only the bloody pages of history are opened by bamboo:
I wander the garden all day - a delight.
Bamboo whispers to me about the voids of being …
Written by the great Chinese poet Tao Yuan-Ming (365-427)
And, indeed, the bamboo forest is a magnificent sight. And if you consider that such thickets grow very quickly, beauty literally rises like a wall in front of you.
