Bamboo Heritage

"Before paper-making was invented by Cai Lun in A.D. 105 and the popularization of the use of paper in China in around 4th century, bamboo and wood were the major materials used to write on. Generally speaking, the bamboo strips were called jian and wood tablets were called du.

The research of historians shows that jian was normally used to write books, laws or important official documents, while du was used to write ordinary archives, account books or private letters. Archaeological discoveries showed that jian was very thin and slim with the width less than 1 cm and the length ranging between 10 cm to 70 cm."

Read on this interesting article about Bamboo and its connection to the History of China here

Painting by Benjamin William Leader