2. Mengzong Bamboo
Mengzong, a scholar in ancient China, was a filial son who loved his mother so deeply that one of his stories was listed in the book of "24 Stories of Filial Piety" (the book keeps the records of 24 touching stories of filial people in ancient China).
During one winter, Mengzong’s mother was sick, and she wanted to eat some bamboo shoots. But usually bamboo didn’t grow shoots during winter, so Mengzong failed to find any bamboo shoots for his mother. He cried near the bamboo, and later he found some bamboo shoots at the places he cried. He took the bamboo shoots back home to cook for his mother. After eating the bamboo shoots, Mengzong’s mother became better gradually. People said the bamboo shoots came out because Mengzong’s filial piety had moved the heavens.
Bamboo and Characters
Bamboo formed the earliest ties with Chinese characters, which can be traced back to the New Stone Age 6,000 years ago. The pictographic symbol for "bamboo" was found on the pottery unearthed in the Yangshao cultural relics of Banpo Village, Xi'an in 1954, and the symbol was also discovered in oracle bone inscriptions and inscriptions on ancient bronze objects. Between the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) to the Jin Dynasty (265-420 AD), the people wrote on "bamboo slips". Many of the earliest Chinese historical documents, such as the Book of Story and The Book of Rites and Analects of Confucius, were recorded on such material，making great contributions to the development of Chinese culture.
Bamboo and Science and Technology
The application of bamboo in science and technology is really thrilling. The Chinese invented a bamboo drill dating back to the Shang Dynasty (1600-1100 BC). In 251 BC Li Bing, Sichuan prefecture, led the local people in building the Dujiang Weirs, the first irrigation network in the world, in which bamboo played an important role. The world's oldest water pipe was also made from bamboo. During the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) the Sichuan people successfully sank a 1,600-meter-deep well with thick bamboo ropes. This technology did not spread to Europe until the 19th century, and in 1859 the Americans drilled the first oil well in Pennsylvania by using the technology.
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