It is said that Bamboo is a tradition of Vietnam and is a tree that has had an extremely close and intimate attachment to local people for generations, from poetry, films and arts to daily activities. Coming to the countryside, everywhere you can easily see the image of lush green bamboo trees all year round, coming with a set of banyan trees, wells, communal yards. There is no written document to determine the origin of bamboo trees from when, but they have appeared in history, fairy tales or folklore from thousands of years ago.
Over many historical periods, Vietnamese bamboo ramparts have become a solid “green fortress” against invaders, as well as an inexhaustible source of materials for making offensive weapons in wars. Referring to bamboo, it is impossible to ignore Saint Giong - the hero in the nation’s legend, who used green bamboo as a weapon to fight invaders to protect Vietnam. Another story is the legend of the hundred-section bamboo, which can be joined or separated, representing the uprightness and resilience of the Vietnamese farmers who will eventually win over the wicked, the evil rich who bullied the good people.
Bamboo trees also appear a lot in stories of other countries, such as the Philippine story about the first man and woman, who were born from two halves of bamboo. Or the Japanese bamboo fairy tale, about the princess Kaguya was born from a bamboo tube, then flew to the moon with it. Meanwhile, Indian culture believes that bamboo represents the bond of friendship with the image of bamboo trees growing in close clusters. In general, bamboo is a tree of high symbolic significance in the culture, poetry and art of East Asian countries.
Bamboo stands upright, so it is said to be a simple but resilient tree, with Vietnamese martial arts Vovinam considers bamboo as a symbol of the spirit of it. The image of bamboo is also widely recognized as a concretization of the Vietnamese soul with the virtues of frankness, solidarity and gentleness, sincerity and diligence through every hardship. Bamboo is a very rare species that blooms, but when it does, it will bloom and die, and provide a large amount of bamboo fruit for rodents. These species grow in numbers very quickly and destroy crops, so in many places, blooming bamboo flowers are considered a symbol of death and famine.
Bamboo growing area in Vietnam is considered to be the 4th largest in the world, with a total of 70 species of bamboo found throughout the territory according to statistics from the 2000s. Through many studies, up to 2005, more than 190 species of 26 bamboo genera in Vietnam have been discovered, most of which are unnamed. There are 55 species of Bambusa bamboo, 21 species of Dendrocalamus bamboo, 16 species of Gigantochloa bamboo, and 11 species of Indosasa bamboo. Bamboo in Vietnam is considered a forest product after wood and can replace wood in many fields, promising to become a popular material in the future.
From the time when there was no plastic and steel, bamboo was the main source of raw materials for people in many construction activities and daily life. Currently, a number of bamboo products are still in use, the most visible are tables, chairs, chopsticks and spoons made of bamboo. Especially in the current situation of forest trees being exploited and exhausted, the relatively abundant source of bamboo materials will solve the problem of lack of construction and manufacturing materials. According to its characteristics, bamboo has a very good ability to grow and regenerate, so maintaining this species is relatively easy, usually a tree can live for about 13 - 15 years old, some species can survive for tens of years.
Bamboo is also a very easy species to live in nature, from nutrient-poor terrain to fertile soil, so it also contributes to preventing natural disasters and erosion. Although it has the ability to grow well and regenerate quickly, in order to maintain the existence of a bamboo population, the selection and exploitation need to be reasonable, so that the supply can be maintained. Through this article, I hope to help you better understand Vietnamese bamboo.
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