Editing Bamboo (section)

==== Writing surface ====
{{Further|Bamboo and wooden slips}}
Bamboo was in widespread use in early China as a medium for written documents. The earliest surviving examples of such documents, written in ink on string-bound bundles of bamboo strips (or "slips"), date from the fifth century BC during the [[Warring States period]]. References in earlier texts surviving on other media indicate some precursor of these Warring States period bamboo slips was used as early as the late [[Shang]] period (from about 1250 BC).{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Bamboo or wooden strips were used as the standard writing material during the early [[Han dynasty]], and excavated examples have been found in abundance.<ref>{{cite book |last=Loewe |first=Michael |title=New Sources of Early Chinese History |publisher=Society for the Study of Early China |year=1997 |isbn=978-1-55729-058-8 |editor=Edward L. Shaughnessy |pages=161–192 |chapter=Wood and bamboo administrative documents of the Han period}}</ref> Subsequently, [[History of paper|paper]] began to displace bamboo and wooden strips from mainstream uses, and by the fourth century AD, bamboo slips had been largely abandoned as a medium for writing in China.

Bamboo fiber has been used to make paper in China since early times. A high-quality, handmade bamboo paper is still produced in small quantities. Coarse bamboo paper is still used to make [[Joss paper|spirit money]] in many Chinese communities.<ref name="spiritpaper">{{cite journal |last1=Perdue |first1=Robert E. |last2=Kraebel |first2=Charles J. |author3=Tao Kiang |date=April 1961 |title=Bamboo Mechanical Pulp for Manufacture of Chinese Ceremonial Paper |journal=Economic Botany |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=161–164 |doi=10.1007/BF02904089 |bibcode=1961EcBot..15..161P |s2cid=9556185}}</ref>

Bamboo [[pulp (paper)|pulps]] are mainly produced in China, [[Myanmar]], Thailand, and India, and are used in [[printing and writing paper]]s.<ref name="Market pulp">{{cite book |last=Nanko |first=Hirko |title=The World of Market Pulp |author2=Button, Allan |author3=Hillman, Dave |publisher=WOMP, LLC |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-615-13013-2 |location=Appleton, WI, US |page=256}}</ref> Several paper industries are surviving on [[bamboo forests]]. Ballarpur (Chandrapur, Maharstra) paper mills use bamboo for paper production. The most common bamboo species used for paper are ''[[Dendrocalamus asper]]'' and ''[[Bambusa blumeana]]''. It is also possible to make [[dissolving pulp]] from bamboo. The average fiber length is similar to [[hardwoods]], but the properties of bamboo pulp are closer to [[softwood]] pulps due to it having a very broad fiber length distribution.<ref name="Market pulp" /> With the help of molecular tools, it is now possible to distinguish the superior fiber-yielding species/varieties even at juvenile stages of their growth, which can help in unadulterated merchandise production.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bhattacharya |first=S. |title=Tropical Bamboo: Molecular profiling and genetic diversity study |publisher=Lambert Academic Publishing |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-8383-7422-2}}</ref>

In Central India, there are regular bamboo working circles in forest areas of Maharashtra, Madhyapradesh, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. Most of the bamboo is harvested for [[papermaking]]. Bamboo is cut after three years of its germination. No cutting is done during the rainy season (July–September); broken and malformed culms are harvested first.<ref name="Working Plan">{{cite book |last1=Shrivastav |first1=S.S. |url=https://mahaforest.gov.in/managementpdf/1440739682Chandrapur%20Vol-I.pdf.pdf |title=Working Plan for Chandrapur Forest Division |date=3 December 2002 |publisher=Govt. of Maharashtra |location=Nagpur |access-date=23 December 2020}}</ref>