IV USES—CUSTOMS—SUPERSTITIONS 29 
To the Chinaman, as to the Japanese, the Bamboo is of 
supreme value; indeed, it may be said that there is not a 
necessity, a luxury, or a pleasure of his daily life to which it 
does not minister. It furnishes the framework of his house 
and thatches the roof over his head, while it supplies paper 
for his windows, awnings for his sheds, and blinds for his 
verandah. His beds, his tables, his chairs, his cupboards, 
his thousand and one small articles of furniture are made of 
it. Shavings and shreds of Bamboos are used to stuff his 
pillows and his mattresses. The retail dealer’s measures, the 
carpenter’s rule, the farmers water-wheel and _ irrigating 
pipes, cages for birds, crickets, and other pets, vessels of 
all kinds, from the richly lacquered flower-stands of the 
well-to-do gentleman down to the humblest utensils, the 
wretchedest duds of the very poor, all come from the same 
source. The boatman’s raft, and the pole with which he 
punts it along; his ropes, his mat-sails, and the ribs to which 
they are fastened; the palanquin in which the stately 
mandarin is borne to his office, the bride to her wedding, 
the. coffin to the grave ; the cruel instruments of the execu- 
tioner, the lazy painted beauty’s fan and parasol, the soldier’s 
spear, quiver, and arrows, the scribe’s pen, the student’s book, 
the artist’s brush and the favourite study for his sketch; 
the musician’s flute, mouth-organ, plectrum, and a dozen 
various instruments of strange shapes and still stranger 
sounds—in the making of all these the Bamboo is a first 
necessity. Plaiting and wicker-work of all kinds, from the 
coarsest baskets and matting down to the delicate filagree 
with which porcelain cups are encased—so cunningly that it 
would seem as if no fingers less deft than those of fairies 
