The original text of "Ai Lian Shuo" and its appreciation

Original text:

The flowers of land and water, vegetation, are so lovely that they are so beautiful. Tao Yuanming of Jin Dynasty only loved chrysanthemums. Since Li Tang, people have loved peonies. I only love the lotus that emerges from the mud but is not stained; it is clear in the ripples without being demonic; it is straight in the middle and straight in the outside; it does not creep or branch; its fragrance becomes clearer from a distance; its pavilion is clean and planted; it can be viewed from a distance but not played with.

I say chrysanthemum, the flower that represents seclusion; peony, the flower that represents wealth; lotus, the flower that represents the gentleman. Alas! The love of chrysanthemums is rarely heard of after Tao; who can share the love of lotus? The love of peonies is suitable for everyone. Appreciation

This article can be clearly divided into two parts: the first part does its best to describe the noble image of the lotus; the second part reveals the metaphorical meaning of the lotus, comments on the three flowers, and Yi Lian's self-portrait expresses the author's deep feelings.

The author began by saying: "The flowers of land and water, vegetation, are so lovely that they are so beautiful." The word "lovely" is chosen to include all kinds of flowers, indicating that the object is of interest and not deliberately asking for work, which shows the beauty of his careful consideration in his words. Then it is said that Tao Yuanming of Jin Dynasty only loved chrysanthemums. Tao Yuanming refused to give up his waist for five measures of rice. After taking off his ribbon and going into seclusion, he drank wine, composed poems, and enjoyed himself picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, leisurely seeing the pastoral beauty of Nanshan. "Love chrysanthemums alone" shows Yuanming's elegant, fragrant and proud character, and makes the meaning of the title more clear: Tao Yuanming can love chrysanthemums to express his feelings, why can't I love lotus alone? Continuing to write? Since Li Tang Dynasty, the world has loved it very much. "Peony" describes the love of peonies among the people of the Tang Dynasty, especially the ruling class. These sentences seem to be repeated, but they actually deepen the meaning. Moreover, the inclusion of this sentence in the text makes the sense of contrast stronger and seeks for it. Lian Zhigaojie laid the introduction. The general idea is that Zhou Dunyi's personal love for lotus is different from that of Jin Tao Yuanming's love for chrysanthemum. In order to maintain his nobility, he would rather live in Nanshan forever. He wants to be a gentleman who emerges from the mud and remains unsullied in the world. This mentality of maintaining innocence in a dirty world and seeking truth alone is fundamentally different in ideological realm from the mentality of following the herd where everyone admires wealth (peony). This lays the best foundation for what Ailian's theory wants to express: to emerge from the mud but remain unstained. Then the author put aside a line and said, let those people love what they love. I only love the lotus that comes out of the mud but is not stained. , the pavilions are clean and planted, can you look at them from a distance but not play with them? This series of narrations powerfully exaggerates the tall and graceful posture of the lotus, the elegant and outstanding moral character, especially the upright and upright demeanor of the respectable but not arrogant Ji Qi. These lines imply that the author himself has the noble character of being able to emerge from the mud without being stained, and wash the clear lotus without being evil. In fact, what he means is: the officialdom is dark, and maintaining a noble character in the officialdom is as difficult as a lotus emerging from the mud without being stained. This is also a summary of his experience as an official, because he does not want to join the others. "To wash lotus leaves without being evil" is just a good wish of the author. He was an upright official, cleared countless wrongdoings, and made decisions for the people. In his later years, he settled in Lushan, wrote books to clarify the Tao, cleansed himself, loved himself, and took care of himself, which is the embodiment of his personal actions and his indifferent aspirations. This is the focus of this sketch that can deeply infect people's thoughts and interests.

Next, the author compares and evaluates the different characters symbolized by the three flowers: I say chrysanthemum, the flower that symbolizes seclusion; peony, the flower that symbolizes wealth; lotus, the flower that symbolizes the gentleman. . ?Originally, flowers have no personality, but in the eyes of the author, the lotus is close to the chrysanthemum, but not as aloof and arrogant as the chrysanthemum, which seems to be a hermit escaping from reality; it is not even as beautiful and coquettish as the peony, which charms with wealth and honor. people. The lotus flower is not polluted due to the dirty reality, and is washed by clean water without appearing coquettish. It is actually a virtuous gentleman among a hundred flowers. In addition, the lotus is a sacred object in Buddhism. Tathagata and Avalokitesvara both use lotus as their seats. "Three Jewels Respecting the Buddha" written by Daoshi of the Tang Dynasty says: "Therefore, all the Buddhas in the ten directions came from the turbidity of the silt. They all sat on the lotus platform with the three bodies of enlightenment." ?The author's poem "Ti Lian" also says: ?The Buddha loves me and I love him too. Butterflies will not steal the fragrance. Generally speaking, it means Qing, not a beauty. ?With reference to this sketch, the taste complements each other.

Finally, the author comments on flowers and then also evaluates "love": "Hey! The love of chrysanthemums is rarely heard of after Tao; the love of lotus, who can share it? The love of peonies is suitable for everyone. Exactly!? Deeply sigh: In today's world, there are few true hermits, few virtuous people, and villains who follow the influence of others and seek to penetrate the door of wealth are everywhere. How many like-minded people can there be in this vast world, *** How about curing this chronic social disease? Here we first use flowers as a metaphor, and let the characteristics of flowers represent people. Although they are plain, the metaphor is relevant. Then we use flowers as metaphors to describe Tao Yuanming's escape from the world and the mentality of everyone in the world pursuing glory and wealth. Incisively and vividly. Although the words can't help but reveal a kind of sadness that can't be expressed in one hand, it is profound and mercilessly lashes out at those shameless people. Here, Zhou Dunyi is arrogant, and his mentality of not following the crowd and only seeking purity is rare in the ordinary world. He lamented that it was because the world was declining and most people were tainted by the world's affairs.

The author expresses his longing for beautiful ideals, his admiration for noble sentiments, and his hatred for the mediocre world through his love and praise for the lotus.