Blood Bamboo
One year after Min's death, it was widely reported that a bamboo plant appeared where his bloody clothes had been laid. Many people thought the bamboo grew nurtured by Min's blood so that the bamboo was called Hyeoljuk (血竹), or "Blood Bamboo". Amazingly, the number of its leaves was 45, Min's age at the time of his death.
Following its discovery people crowded to witness this bamboo, some taking pictures. The Japanese government thought it was either a natural phenomenon or pure fabrication and sent officials to Min's former home to investigate. Mysteriously, they discovered the bamboo had no roots and was proven not to be fabricated. The Blood Bamboo was preserved and is now housed at the Korea University Museum along with items of Min's clothing and other personal effects.
In East Asian tradition bamboo is a symbol of loyalty and uprightedness.
Read more about this topic: Min Yeong-hwan
Famous quotes containing the words blood and/or bamboo:
“Dust fanned in scraped puffs from the earth
Between his arms, and blood turned his face inside out,
To demonstrate its suppleness
Of veins, as he perfected his role.”
—James Dickey (b. 1923)
“He was burned, so he ran into the bamboo grove, but the grove caught fire.”
—Punjabi proverb, trans. by Gurinder Singh Mann.