Qizhen Mat

Qizhen Mat

　　A Qizhen mat is a type of mat woven from strips of large Qizhen bamboo. This kind of mat is as smooth as a leek leaf and as cool as jade, and it can be folded. When Han Yu received a Qizhen mat as a gift from his friend Zheng Jun, an official in Qizhou, he treasured it immensely and joyfully composed a poem: “The bamboo mat of Qizhou is known throughout the world; the one cherished by Zheng Jun is especially rare and marvelous. Brought here in daylight, it’s too precious to sleep on—yet the whole prefecture passes it around to gaze at its yellow glassy sheen. Its body is firm, its color rich, and its nodes well hidden; to the eye it looks sleek and flawless.” Han Yu had long known of its noble quality and greatly desired to possess it: “Returning home at dusk, I feel only melancholy—were there one for sale, I’d spend my family fortune to buy it.” Once he finally obtained it, he immediately “called his servant to sweep the floor and unroll it, but before he finished, its radiant glow startled the children, while blue flies folded their wings and fleas fled away.” Those who lay on it felt as though “a cool breeze was whispering beneath them, and reclining in comfort, all ailments melted away.” Bai Juyi once sent a Qizhen mat to Yuan Zhen and wrote a poem about it: “The flute bamboo comes from Qichun, sliced with frosty blades from emerald shoots. Woven into a double-patterned mat, it’s sent to one who sleeps alone. Rolled up as a tube to tuck inside a letter, unfurled as a treasure upon the mat. Smooth as a bed of leek leaves, cool as the scales of a dragon, fresh and moist like dew, bright and spotless, free of dust. In Tongzhou’s sweltering heat, this thing is most essential.” Su Shi, in his poem “Sending a Qizhen Mat to Pu Chuanzheng,” described it thus: “May you quietly sweep your fragrant pavilion, lie down and listen to the sound of wind-waves filling the bed, a gentle breeze rising from both armpits—please ride this feeling to ascend to heaven’s gate.” The reason Qizhen bamboo mats are so prized lies first in the excellence of the bamboo, and second in the skill of the craftsmanship. The mats are made from tender bamboo, with “buds still on the branches” split into fine strips, soaked in rivers, sun-dried, and meticulously crafted. (Huanggang)