Original text of Ailian's story

The Love of Lotus

Author: Zhou Dunyi

The flowers of land and water are very lovely. 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; the love of lotus, who can share it? The love of peonies is suitable for everyone.

Vernacular translation

There are many kinds of flowers, plants and trees on the water and on the land that are worthy of love. Tao Yuanming of the Jin Dynasty only loved chrysanthemums. Since the Tang Dynasty, people in the world have loved peonies very much. I only love the lotus. It grows out of the mud but is not contaminated with dirt. It has been washed in clear water but does not look charming. Its stems are straight in the middle and straight in appearance. They have no branches or branches and their fragrance spreads far and wide. More fragrant, standing there straight and clean, you can watch it from a distance but you can't play with it.

I believe that the chrysanthemum is the hermit among flowers; the peony is the rich and noble among flowers; and the lotus is the gentleman among flowers. well! Love of chrysanthemums is rarely heard of after Tao Yuanming. Who else has the same love for lotus as me? Of course, many people love peonies.

Extended information:

The article uses the lotus as a metaphor for people. Through the description and praise of the lotus, it praises its noble qualities of perseverance and unstainedness. , showing the author's life attitude of not being interested in fame and fortune, but being self-sufficient.

The most prominent artistic technique is foil, using chrysanthemums as a foil on the front and peonies on the reverse.

Explanation

"Shuo" is an ancient literary style. It usually uses a certain thing to record narratives, explain things, or discuss things. It is equivalent to modern essays. However, they all elaborate on the author's views on various issues. Most of them express the author's feelings on one thing, one thing or one phenomenon. The writing style is eclectic, and the writing advocates freedom and liveliness. There are ups and downs, but the length is generally not long. Quite similar to modern essays. "The Theory of Loving the Lotus" is about loving the lotus.

Appreciation: "Shuo" is one of the ancient argumentative literary styles. It often expresses emotions by describing things. Zhou Dunyi's "A Love of the Lotus" is a rare masterpiece handed down from generation to generation in this style of expressing one's ambitions.

The lotus has been the object of praise in the writings of literati throughout the ages, but most literati marveled at its pure appearance and described it in their writings. However, this masterpiece of prose has a unique approach, through The description of the image and quality of the lotus praises the steadfast character of the lotus, thereby also showing the author's noble personality of being clean and self-respecting, not collaborating with the world, and his contempt and disgust for the pursuit of fame and fortune.

From the content point of view, 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 and comments on it. The three flowers, and the lotus describing itself, express the author's deep feelings.

The first part of the article describes the noble qualities of the lotus. First of all, "coming out of the mud but not stained, washing the clear ripples without being evil" describes the valuable spirit of the lotus in the mud, but it is not stained, does not follow the world, is pure and self-loving, and is innocent and natural without showing any flattery; secondly, "It is straight in the middle and straight to the outside, neither creeping nor branching", which describes its noble quality of being upright and not involved in clinging; again, "it can be viewed from a distance but not played with", which describes the lotus as a proud and unconventional gentleman. , awe-inspiring and inviolable.

Everything mentioned above is actually a reflection of the author's personality and a self-evident expression of the author's will. We can get clear proof of this from the second part of the article. As the author said: "Who can give the love of lotus?" The subtext is that there are too few people who have the purity of lotus like him.

The first paragraph of the article uses chrysanthemums and peonies as backgrounds to show that he loves lotus alone, depicts the image of lotus, and praises the character of lotus. The second paragraph compares the "reclusion" of the chrysanthemum and the "wealth" of the peony to point out the metaphorical meaning of the "gentleman" of the lotus, indicating the author's yearning for the gentleman and his attitude toward a clean and self-sufficient life.

The full text uses objects to express ambitions and lotus to represent people. Through the description and praise of lotus, it extols the virtue of a gentleman who "comes out of the mud but remains untainted" and expresses the author's noble character of not collaborating with the world. and disdain and disgust for the pursuit of fame and fortune.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia - "The Theory of Love and Lotus"