398 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 195 7 



We usually think of matting as a woven product, but there is a 

 kind called "smooth matting" made in China by another method. 

 These mats are constructed by stringing together, edge-to-edge, par- 

 tially split sections of the culms of Phyllostachys pubescens. Flaw- 

 less sections are selected from the lower middle portion of large culms 

 where there is the least taper and no branches. These are cut to a 

 length precisely equal to the width of the finished mat. The external 

 nodal projections are planed or scraped down to the level of the rest 

 of the culm surfaces. Each section is then split into strips about an 

 inch in width, and these are kept in their original order. The frag- 

 ments of the diaphragms are now removed and the strips are agaih 

 split at intervals of perhaps an eighth of an inch this time through 

 only about two-thirds of their length and alternately from the two 

 ends. These inch-wide strips may now be flattened out. They are 

 laid, one by one, outer side down, on a flat surface and drilled tan- 

 gentially with three pairs of holes (one pair at the middle and one 

 near each end) always precisely located. The different sets of strips 

 from the several culm sections are now matched, planed on the edges 

 where necessary, and then strung together on heavy cotton cord. 

 Such mats are used chiefly for covering beds and cots for summer 

 use in warm climates. The upper side, which is formed by the outer 

 waxy surface of the bamboo, takes on a pleasing natural polish with 

 use and provides incredibly cool and comfortable sleeping conditions 

 in the hottest weather. 



BAMBOO ROPE 



Ropes made from bamboo are used more extensively in China, per- 

 haps, than in any other Oriental country. They have several points 

 of distinct superiority over ropes made from other fibers. This is 

 especially true where the rope is frequently wetted or subjected to an 

 unusual amount of abrasion, as in the drilling of wells, the pumping 

 of salt brine, and the towing of boats. 



Two general methods of manufacture are used. The easier and 

 more common method is essentially like that by which rope is made 

 in the West by hand, the same twisting devices and "rope walk" being 

 employed. It consists simply of the operations involved in twisting 

 the individual strips together. The primary units may be further 

 united, by twisting, into successively larger units until cables of pro- 

 digious size, up to 2 feet in circumference, may be made. Such great 

 ropes are employed only in constructing mighty cable bridges or in 

 the repairing of important dikes during a flood. 



A much more durable type of rope is plaited or braided in a tubular 

 form, but this can be made only in rather slender sizes. The work is 

 performed in a tower, and the rope is lowered to the ground as it is 

 finished. It is much more tedious to make this kind, but it has a con- 



