Lotus is a loveable summer flower. It is said by Zhang Chao, an chinese scholar in Qing dynasty, that:
‘Most flowers that are pretty have no smell, and those that have multilayer petals do no beat fruit. How rare is a perfect talent! The lotus, however, has all these attributes.' (Translated by Lin Yutang.)
Lotus is hornored with the name of a ‘gentleman’(gentleman in chinese standard, as a matter of fact). This is because lotus is not only a perfect talent in flowers, but also shares human virtues. It shows humility and dedication, for all its body parts are hollow inside and suitable for different kinds of uses. Moreover, as it grows out of mud, but is uncontaminated, it represent people who keep himself chaste in an immoral world.
Just as gentleman is an ideal person in confucian’s thought, lotus is an ideal flower in chinese mind.
