FILE PHOTO: “Xiaoxiang Bamboo and Rock” by Su Shi, Northern Song Dynasty, from the collection of the National Art Museum of China

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China’s climate is characterized by a continental monsoon pattern, influenced by the East Asian monsoon, which is a key element of global atmospheric circulation. During the winter months in the northern hemisphere, cold air accumulates in the high latitude regions of the Asian continent and moves southward, generating some of the strongest winter winds in the world. In contrast, in the summer, warm and humid airflows from tropical oceans move northward, forming the world’s most northerly summer monsoon. This brings seasonal rainfall to the regions it traverses. The East Asian monsoon plays a decisive role in shaping China’s climate, which features hot and rainy summers and cold, dry winters, resulting in distinct seasonal variations.

Bamboo  

The rich climate zones in China provide abundant material for literary and artistic creation, with nature serving as both a model and a prototype. The Xia Xiao Zheng [an agricultural and astronomical calendar dating back to the late Western Zhou or early Spring and Autumn period] records 68 phenological phenomena related to plants, animals, and non-living entities, as well as seven climate-related and 11 agricultural or livestock-related phenomena. It notes that in the first month of the lunar year, plum, apricot, and peach trees blossom, and willows sprout tender buds. By the fourth month, “apricots can be seen in the garden.” The clear phrasing in the Xia Xiao Zheng makes it a useful historical reference.

In his work Wen Fu, the Jin Dynasty scholar Lu Ji writes: “Sad at the falling leaves in the cold autumn, joyful at the soft branches in the fragrant spring. My heart trembles with frost, and my will is distant like the clouds.” Spring, with its bright and clear landscape, brings joy and comfort to people; summer, with its heat and stifling atmosphere, often causes irritability and discomfort; autumn, with its high skies and crisp air, evokes distant thoughts; while winter, with its endless snow, often leads to deep reflection. Throughout the year, different seasons evoke different emotions which find expression in writing.

The Yellow River basin became the center of flourishing Chinese civilization partly because the climate at the time was warmer and more humid than it is today. Bamboo, which grows in subtropical climates, is frequently mentioned in the Zuo Zhuan [an ancient commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals and the first sustained narrative work in Chinese literature] and the Shi Jing (Book of Songs). This suggests that the climate then was more northerly than it is now, and that the reach of the summer monsoon extended further north. Chinese geologist and meteorologist Chu Coching believed that during the Yangshao (c. 5000–3000 BCE) and Yin Ruins (c. 13th–10th century BCE) periods, the climate in China was mild, and areas such as Xi’an and Anyang supported abundant subtropical plant and animal life. Some speculate that since the Yangshao culture, about 5,000 years ago, the northern limit of bamboo distribution has retreated by 1°–3° in latitude. Records of monthly and annual average temperatures in the lower Yellow River and Yangtze River regions indicate a 3–5°C decrease in the average temperature of the first month, and a 2°C drop in the annual average temperature. In this sense, the climate at the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty (c. 1046–256 BCE)was warm, allowing bamboo to flourish in the Yellow River basin; however, later changes in temperature rendered it less suitable for growth.

British biochemist and sinologist Joseph Needham proposed that Chinese civilization has a distinctive relationship with trees, particularly bamboo, with some Western scholars even referring to China as a “Bamboo Civilization.” Bamboo’s symbolic significance has permeated Chinese literature, becoming both a spiritual symbol and a metaphor. In a poem from the Book of Songs, bamboo symbolizes the virtue of a gentleman: “Look at those recesses in the banks of the Qi, / With their green bamboos, so dense together! / There is our elegant and accomplished prince, / [Pure] as gold or as tin, / [Soft and rich] as a sceptre of jade! / How magnanimous is he and gentle! / There he is in his chariot with its two high sides! / Skilful is he at quips and jokes, / But how does he keep from rudeness in them!” (trans. James Legge). The dense bamboo growing along the Qi River bank is first described, followed by a portrayal of a talented gentleman. Materials like bone, ivory, jade, and stone are hard, and transforming them into tools or ornaments requires skill and time. This process serves as a metaphor for the gentleman’s cultivation of virtue, which manifests in a dignified and solemn manner. The poem draws a parallel between the growth of bamboo and the refinement of a gentleman’s moral character.

Chrysanthemums and fortune eupatorium

In ancient agricultural societies, plants were among the closest living beings to people and formed the basic environment in which humans lived.

During the Warring States period (476–221 BCE), the Chu people’s territory and the context in which the Chu Ci [Verses of Chu, a major anthology of ancient Chinese poetry, originating from the State of Chu, located in what is now central and southern China] was produced were distinct from the Yellow River basin where the Book of Songs originated. The Song Dynasty’s Li Sao Cao Mu Shu [Commentary on the Plants in Li Sao, a work that systematically interprets and catalogs the various plants, trees, and botanical references found in Qu Yuan’s poem Li Sao, the most famous work in Chu Ci] contains four volumes and explains the names of 59 plants, laying the foundation for interpreting the plants in Chu Ci. According to research by Pan Fujun, Chu Ci mentions 100 plant species. Among them, aromatic plants can be further categorized into aromatic herbs, such as chrysanthemum, lotus, and East Asian pollia, as well as fragrant trees, including magnolia, cinnamon, osmanthus, pine, cypress, orange, pomelo, and bamboo (encompassing woody vines, shrubs, and trees), creating iconic images of aromatic plants like orange, fortune eupatorium [in Chu Ci, the lan is generally considered to belong to the family Asteraceae, different from the Orchidaceae family plants that we know today], and lotus.

These plants have deeply influenced Chinese aesthetic culture. Wang Xiaodun’s research reveals that the concept of “fragrance” in historical terms is central to olfactory culture, especially in the Chu Ci, where the scent of plants is emphasized. Rich plant life, warm climates, and the sensory experiences they offer are often described in literary works, adding a plant-rich atmosphere and a sense of seasonality.

Plants serve as intuitive markers of phenology. Among the most frequently mentioned plants in Chu Ci are fortune eupatorium and chrysanthemums. “Fortune eupatorium” appears most often, used in 18 chapters and 30 verses. In Li Sao alone, fortune eupatorium is used as a symbol of fragrance in seven verses. Qu Yuan often used the metaphor of “fragrant herbs and beauties” to symbolize virtue and integrity.

Chrysanthemums also feature prominently as fragrant plants in Chu Ci. In Li Sao, Qu Yuan writes: “At dawn, I drink the fallen dewdrops of magnolia, / At dusk, I feast on drifting petals of autumn chrysanthemum.” In Jiu Zhang, he writes: “I sow angelica and thriving chrysanthemums wide, / Hoping in spring, their fragrance may nourish my stride.” In these lines, Qu Yuan assigns human-like qualities to fortune eupatorium and chrysanthemums, moralizing the scent and aesthetic experience of these plants.

Regarding the phenology and ritual significance of fortune eupatorium and chrysanthemums, as early as the 1960s, archaeologist Su Bingqi analyzed the geometric patterns of plants on ancient artifacts and proposed that the floral motifs of fortune eupatorium and chrysanthemums were used on glazed pottery because the flowers of Rosaceae plants bloom in spring, signaling the start of spring plowing, while the flowers of the Asteraceae family bloom in autumn, signaling the need to prepare for harvest. These flowers are connected to phenology and agricultural production. In the Yangshao culture, these plants appeared on fine red clay pottery with curved belly basins—among the most exquisite of the Yangshao culture. The flowers of Rosaceae and Asteraceae plants likely symbolized agricultural rituals related to the beginning of farming and autumn harvest at the time.

Plants as spiritual symbols  

China’s unique agrarian civilization developed under the influence of its temperate continental climate. On one hand, this agrarian society provided a basis for extracting aesthetic meaning from plants; on the other hand, understanding phenology, particularly the liberation from seasonal constraints, became a means of deriving symbolic meanings from nature.

The interplay between these two processes generates aesthetic significance. However, when social meaning is imposed too forcefully on plants, detaching them from their original phenological significance, the result can feel mechanical, losing the vitality of the original objects. Such superficial imitation rarely transcends practical meaning to achieve artistic expression. For example, rice and millet farming were critical to the development of Chinese culture, and archaeological findings often emphasize these crops as breakthroughs. Yet, in literature and art, descriptions of these plants are infrequent and lack overarching significance, They fail to ascend to an aesthetic function, as the writings based on their practical relevance fail to extract their spiritual essence.

Chinese civilization’s symbolic objects represent a continuation of its classical spirit and are part of a rich historical and cultural heritage. Ancient texts reveal that plants, as spiritual symbols, not only carry a long-standing phenological tradition but also embody rich imagination and humanity.

Yan Yuezhen is a professor from the College of Liberal Arts of Jinan University.

Edited by REN GUANHONG