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Mottled bamboo valued by refined Chinese
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For Mei Lanfang (1894-1961), a Peking Opera master in modern history, a folding fan was more than just a decoration for his performances. He adored them, especially the ones with a framework of mottled bamboo or xiang fei (湘妃).
In China, bamboo is considered a symbol of strength, integrity and personal virtue. But the most rare and expensive bamboo is mottled bamboo.
Found in Hunan, Henan, Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces, mottled bamboo has light brown trunk with marks of varying shades of reddish-brown. The shades looks like flowers or ink diffused on paper.
Stories of the value of mottled bamboo are legendary.
Master Mei, known for his elegant demeanor, is said to have once engaged in bidding war for a mottled-bamboo folding fan at an antique shop in Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu Province, with Chen Julai, a renowned artist.
The price soared from 1,500 silver coins to 3,000 during the bidding.
An old Chinese saying states, “an inch of mottled bamboo equals four tael of gold.” A tael is an ancient Chinese measurement equaling 50 grams.
Mottled bamboo is often used for furniture or musical instruments, and also is made into small objects like the framework of a folding fan, an incense holder and items in a stationery set.
Beginning in the Ming Dynasty (1386-1644), mottled bamboo became highly prized among collectors, especially refined scholars. Even ivory and red sandalwood were considered tacky by comparison.
During the Republic of China period (1912-1949), Zhu Jiaji, a prestigious collector, wrote about his attempt to buy an ancient, exquisite small armrest for writing made of mottled bamboo from a scholar.
“We begged piteously and negotiated faithfully, offered a handsome amount of money, (but) even flush with excitement, the owner just went away,” he said.
For three days they negotiated with no luck, he said.
Now the cheapest folding fan with a mottled bamboo framework costs around 5,000 yuan (US$812) while good ones can be over 1 million yuan.
Chinese of refined taste and men of letters continue to be fascinated by the romantic legend of mottled bamboo.
Stories say legendary King Shun (2277-2178 BC) died suddenly of overwork from helping the people avoid natural disasters and was buried on Cangwu Mountain in Hunan Province. His two concubines, E’huang and Nuying, cried for nine days and nights near his tomb. Their tears dropped on bamboo, which stained it forever in mottled shapes.
The story supposedly took place around Xiang River, and fei means concubine, thus mottled bamboo is called Xiang fei Zhu (bamboo of the concubines by the Xiang River).
In the novel “A Dream of Red Mansions” in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) by Cao Xueqin, Lin Daiyu, who is portrayed as a well-educated, intelligent and sentimental young woman, was given the literary name of Princess Xiaoxiang because her tears were reminiscent of mottled bamboo.
The secret of the bamboo, however, is that the mottled spots are created by bacteria. In a certain humidity and environment, the bacteria grows well and the bamboo is left with a mottled pattern. Attempts to cultivate mottled bamboo have all reportedly failed.
“It shows its beauty through a sickly appearance,” says Liu Jun, a Shanghai collector of mottled bamboo objects and Chinese folding fans.
He sat forward and took one of his favorite items in his collection — a fan from the late Ming Dynasty.
It was a curved folding fan, made of paper mounted between mottled bamboo sticks, about 37 centimeters long. The surface was glazed and each pattern elegant, reddish brown, with the grain clearly visible. After nearly 500 years, it had no visible cracks or flaws.
“This fan is beautiful like Helen of Troy. It is nearly impossible to find another one like this now,” Liu says.
He says the value of the fan is comparable with that of a very expensive sports car.
“But I am not selling this anyway. A fan like this is priceless. ... A mottled bamboo curio is something very private for a collector that he will seldom show to others, so no one knows they it even exists,” he says.
Old bamboo artifacts don’t need much maintenance, but grow finer and more burnished through use and touch. It distinguishes itself from new or less-refined bamboo. “This is really a pleasure, when you actually feel connected with an object,” Liu says.
Aged mottled bamboo tends to be of better quality. Many think that with global climate change, the bacteria that produce mottled bamboo have mutated and stopped growing well.
Also, farmers and producers who are anxious to achieve quick profits often cut mottled bamboos before the bacterial colonies have matured and done their work, according to Liu.
Thus, new mottled bamboo objects often are of bad appearance — the trunk is a bit green and the patterns are small, less elaborate, and more like dark brown.
“Sometimes, they are too thin and so bad-looking that they can be used only for chopsticks,” Liu says. “Mottled bamboo is a matter of spiritual totem for refined Chinese scholars.”
While in the market the price and quality of mottled bamboo sometimes is gauged according to its size, for Liu the appearance always comes first.
“Mottled bamboo is nothing without it being made into particular objects, hopefully with elegance and taste. For me, the fan is the best object. It’s graceful with a profound history,” the collector concludes.
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