Lotus 荷花

Lotus flower is an important symbol of pureness in Buddhism, and also traditional Chinese culture. A Song Dynasty scholar, Zhou Dunyi, praised lotus as "unsullied from silt where it comes from, retains demure despite being cleaned by water" in his prose Ai Lian Shuo.

In ancient Chinese literature, the lotus is often connected with women's noble and pure personality. In the Chinese classic The Dream of the Red Chamber, Qing Wen, an honest and upright maid of protagonist Jia Baoyu, becomes a lotus fairy after passing away.

The flower, along with its leaves, seeds and roots have being widely used in both Chinese cuisine and traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years.

荷花又名蓮花、芙蓉，在佛教和中國傳統文化中是純潔的象征。宋代學者周敦頤在散文《愛蓮說》中是這樣稱贊荷花的：“予獨愛蓮之出淤泥而不染，濯清漣而不妖。”

在中國古代文學中，荷花也寓意著女子的高潔人格。《紅樓夢》中晴雯死后托夢說自己變成了“芙蓉仙子”。

點擊這里聽《蓮心曲》