The original text said by Ailian!〗

Original text

The flowers of land and water, vegetation, are so lovely that they are so beautiful. Tao Yuanming of the Jin Dynasty only loved chrysanthemums; since the Li and Tang Dynasties, everyone in the world has loved peonies; I only loved the lotus which emerges from the mud but is not stained; Jingzhi can be viewed from a distance but cannot be played with.

I say chrysanthemum, the hermit flower; peony, the precious flower; lotus, the gentleman flower. Alas! The love of chrysanthemums is rarely heard of after Tao; the love of lotus, who can share it? The love of peony is suitable for everyone!

Translation

There are many plants and flowers on water or land that are loved by people. Tao Yuanming of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was partial to chrysanthemums; since the Li and Tang dynasties, people in the world have particularly liked peonies; but I only like the nobility of the lotus, which comes from the mud and is not contaminated with dirt. After being washed with clear water, it appears pure but not charming. It has a clear heart and a straight appearance, unlike vines spreading everywhere or branches crisscrossing everywhere. The fragrance is pure and fragrant from a distance, and it is as graceful as a beautiful lady on the water. It can only be appreciated from a distance and cannot be played with wantonly.

I liken the chrysanthemum to a reclusive person among the flowers. Peony is the symbol of wealth among flowers. And what about the lotus? He is a gentleman among flowers. Alas! (Interjection, used as a particle here to emphasize the tone) People who love chrysanthemums are rarely heard of after Tao Yuanming's death. How many people who love lotus have the same love as me? (How many people are there?) As for those who love peonies, it is suitable for most people. (Ye Yiqing)

Appreciation

In the fourth year of Song Xining (AD 1071), the famous Neo-Confucian Zhou Dunyi came to Xingzi to serve as the military commander of Nankang. Zhou Dunyi was an honest and upright man with an indifferent mind and loved lotus flowers all his life.

After Zhou Dunyi came to Xingzi, he dug a pond on the east side of the military office and planted lotus flowers in it. Zhou Dunyi was already in his twilight years (55 years old) and ill when he came to Xingzi, so after dinner, he would either be alone or invite friends from his staff to enjoy flowers and drink tea by the pool, and wrote an article The popular prose "Ai Lian Shuo". Although "Ai Lian Shuo" is short, every word is exquisite, and it has always been passed down and recited.

A year later, Zhou Dunyi resigned due to old age and frailty, and settled down to build a church at the northwest foot of Mount Lu to give lectures. The lotus pond he left behind and the "Shuo on Love of the Lotus" have always been cherished by those who came after him. In the sixth year of Chunxi (1179 AD), Zhu Xi was transferred to Nankang Zhijun. Full of admiration for Zhou Dunyi, he rebuilt the Ailian Pond and established the Ailian Hall. He also obtained the ink of Zhou Dunyi's "Ailian Theory" from Zhou Zhiqing, Zhou's great-grandson. Ask someone to carve it on a stone and stand it by the pool. Zhu Xi wrote a poem:

Hearing the Tao moved his roots to the jade well, and the flowers bloomed for ten miles.

The moon is bright and dew is cold, no one can see it, it only brings joy to the teacher.

Appreciating "The Theory of Love of the Lotus", the key point is "to get out of the mud but not stained, to clean the lotus without being evil", which is the central theme of the whole text.

The ancients generally used objects to express their feelings when writing articles. The same sentence has two meanings, one metaphorical and one expressing feelings. Similarly, "the silt is dyed, the lotus is clear but not demonic" also has a second level of lyrical meaning. It is a metaphor that the author himself has the noble character of "coming out of the mud but not stained, washing 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. And "Zhuo Qinglian is not evil" is just a good wish of the author. If you often walk by the river, how can you avoid getting your shoes wet? Therefore, the lotus alone among hundreds of flowers can do this, which is extremely valuable. This is also the author's sigh, because in the big environment, it is impossible for him to be alone, except to escape and stay away. Or maybe he is as conscientious as he is in guarding his own ambitions.

Zhou Dunyi's "On Love of Lotus" begins with "There are many lovely flowers among water and land vegetation". The opening chapter is deep and atmospheric, which not only points out that the lotus in "The Theory of Love and Lotus" is also a flower of land and water, but also points out that the loveliness of lotus is just one of the "very beautiful" ones. This laid the logical foreshadowing for his subsequent poem "I love the lotus alone". With such an opening, the writing is extraordinary and eye-catching. Next, Zhou Dunyi did not get entangled in Shenfan, but just shortened the scene and said "Tao Yuanming of Jin Dynasty only loved chrysanthemums", which made the meaning of the title more clear. Tao Yuanming could love chrysanthemums and express his feelings, why can't I only love lotus?

The following sentence, "Since the Li and Tang Dynasties, the world has loved peonies very much" seems to be repeated, but it actually deepens the meaning of the meaning. Moreover, the inclusion of this sentence in the text makes the sense of contrast stronger, and I pray for lotus for it. Gao Jie 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 mire and is untainted in the world. This mentality of maintaining innocence in a dirty world and seeking truth alone in isolation is fundamentally different in ideological realm from the mentality of following the herd where everyone admires wealth (peony). This is the best pavement for what Ailian said is to express "coming out of the silt but not stained".

In the next sentence, Zhou Dunyi went directly to the topic: "I only love the lotus that comes out of the mud but is not stained, washes the lotus clean without being demonic, the middle is straight and the outer is straight, and it can be viewed from a distance but not played with." The language of the lotus, the heart of loving the lotus, and the aspirations of the metaphor of the lotus can be said to be integrated in one go. It seems to be an intuitive description of the lotus, but in fact, every word is to express the heart through the appearance of the lotus. The sophistication of this writing technique is truly astonishing. It can be said that readers throughout the article have no chance to breathe. The language is otherworldly, but the aftertaste is meaningful and long, and the more you taste it, the more delicious it becomes.

At the end of the article, Zhou Dunyi first uses flowers as a metaphor to let the characteristics of flowers be compared to people. Although it is plain, the metaphor is relevant and makes people read it with a special taste. "I say chrysanthemum, the flower that represents the recluse, the elegance; the peony, the flower that represents wealth and honor; the lotus, the flower that represents the gentleman." This plain sentence follows the previous stanza: "Tao Yuanming of the Jin Dynasty only loved chrysanthemums; since Li and Tang Dynasties, the world has loved peonies; I only loved lotus..." It can be said that it is integrated without any trace. What's more important is that by using flowers as metaphors, Tao Yuanming's escape from the world and the mentality of everyone pursuing glory and wealth are vividly described without a single word of direct accusation.

Through this comparison, Zhou Dunyi compared himself to a gentleman. It is better for a gentleman to do something difficult than to hide from the world. From this point of view, Zhou Dunyi is somewhat self-admiring. However, Zhou Dunyi also had some self-awareness, and then he sighed deeply: "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." Yes, in this world of mortals, how many people can escape from the world in order to seek truth? Jin had Tao Yuanming, but now I haven't heard of anyone else doing this. Or how many people are like me, who can maintain their purity in this world, and pursue a gentlemanly demeanor like me? Most people just follow the crowd in the world. It can be seen from this that Zhou Dunyi is arrogant. His mentality of not following the crowd and only pursuing 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.

This article is high-spirited, elegant and refined, short and catchy. It is indeed a rare short story in ancient Chinese literature. Moreover, it has two interpretations in one article, with rich content and profound artistic conception. In addition, its writing is similar to vernacular, easy to read and understand, so it has become a masterpiece that has been passed down to future generations. When appreciating this article, if you can be moved by the moral principles in the article, this will be the best gain from reading this article.