Information about Lotus Flower

English name Lotus flower , blue lotus, Indian lotus, sacred lotus, bean of India, sacred water-lily.

Latin scientific names Nelumbo nucifera, Nelumbium speciosum , Nymphaea nelumbo, Nelumbo nucifera Gaertnero (from Sinhalese nelumbo)

Flowering period late June to August

Scientific Classification

Border: Plantae

Plantae: Angiosperms Magnoliophyta

Organism: Magnoliopsida

Organism: Proteales

Family: Lotusaceae

Genus: Lotus Nelumbo

Species: Lotus nucifera

Alias: lotus

Alias: lotus, lotus, lotus, lotus

Alias: lotus, lotus, lotus

Alias: lotus, lotus, lotus

Alias: lotus, lotus, lotus, lotus

Alias lotus flower, lotus flower, Nymphaea lotus, Nymphaea lotus, Nymphaea lotus, Nymphaea lotus, Nymphaea lotus, Nymphaea lotus, Nymphaea lotus, Nymphaea lotus, Nymphaea lotus, Nymphaea lotus, Nymphaea lotus, Nymphaea lotus, Nymphaea lotus, Nymphaea lotus, Nymphaea lotus, Nymphaea lotus, Nymphaea lotus, Nymphaea lotus, Nymphaea lotus, Nymphaea lotus, and so on.

Introduction

The lotus is a perennial aquatic herb. Underground stem long and fat, with long nodes, leaf shield round. Flowering from June to September, single at the top of the pedicel, the petals are numerous, embedded in the receptacle cavity, with red, pink, white, purple and other colors, or with colorful text, edging. Nut oval, seeds ovate. Lotus species are many, divided into two categories of ornamental and edible. Native to tropical and temperate regions of Asia, China's long history of cultivation, as early as the Zhou Dynasty on the cultivation records, sex like warm and humid. Lotus flowers and leaves, fragrance far away, out of the mud, y loved by the people, is a very important water surface greening plants in the garden. Lotus flower is a treasure of the whole body, lotus root and lotus seed can be eaten; lotus seed, rhizome, root nodules, lotus leaves, flowers and seeds of the germ, etc. can be used as medicine, can cure a variety of diseases.

Origin and distribution

Native to tropical and temperate regions of Asia, China's long history of cultivation, as early as in the Zhou Dynasty, there are cultivation records, like warm and humid.

The lotus flower is native to the vast area of southern Asia, from Vietnam to Afghanistan have, generally distributed in Central Asia, West Asia, North America, India, China, Japan and other subtropical and temperate regions. China as early as three thousand years ago that there is cultivation, now in Liaoning and Zhejiang are found in the carbonized ancient lotus, visible in its long history. Taiwan is in 100 years ago by the introduction of Japan, currently in Tainan White River Township, Chiayi area, cultivation area of nearly 350 hectares, the scale of the vast, become one of Taiwan's most important sightseeing areas. There are still wild lotus in some remote parts of Asia, but most of them are grown artificially for landscape embellishment and food, for example, in China where lotus is grown as a cash crop. Many people had mistakenly thought that the lotus was produced in Egypt and around the Mediterranean. The lotus was introduced to Egypt around 500 B.C. and was probably brought there by the Persians. The "lotus buds" that adorned the tops of temple pillars were modeled after water lilies, and Homer's epic poem "Odyssey" (Odyssey) is actually about drinking a drink made from date palms (which have nothing to do with the lotus) and getting into a place where one can forget one's troubles. Describing Egyptian plants, the Greek writer Herodotus wrote: "In the rivers grow lilies that look like roses; the fruit grows in pods that look like wasps' nests. There are many fruits the size of an olive kernel that are edible, either fresh or dried." What he's talking about is obviously the lotus flower.

There are wild lotus flowers. Professor Xu Ren, a paleobotanist, found fossilized lotus leaves in the Qaidam Basin 40 years ago, at least 10 million years ago, and fossilized lotus pollen in artifacts unearthed at the 7,000-year-old Hemudu Culture site in Yuyao County, Zhejiang Province, in 1973; and two grains of charcoal-coated lotus seeds were found at the 5,000-year-old Yangshao Culture site in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, in the same year. The early Western Zhou Dynasty (ll century BC), the ancients consumed about 40 kinds of vegetables, lotus root is one of them. In the "Yu Jing", there is a phrase "there are lotus flowers in the cheeks", meaning that wherever there are marshy waters in the motherland, lotus flowers grow. China is the most cultivated country in the world.

Morphological features

Perennial aquatic plants. The rootstock (lotus root) is plump and knobby, and is borne horizontally in the mud under water. Leaves peltate-orbicular, surface dark green, covered with waxy white powder abaxially gray-green, entire and undulate. Petiole terete, densely barbed. Flowers solitary at the top of the pedicel, high above the water, with single, compound, double and heavy platform and other flower types; flower color white, pink, deep red, lavender or inter-colored and other variations; most of the stamens; the pistil is free, buried in the inverted cone-shaped spongy receptacle, the surface of the receptacle with a large number of scattered honeycomb-shaped holes, after fertilization and gradually expanding known as the rosette, a nutlet (rosette) born inside each hole. Flowering period June ~ September, daily morning and evening closed. The fruit ripens from September to October. The rhizome of the lotus is planted on the silt at the bottom of a pond or river, while the leaves stick out of the water. Flowers grow on stems that stick out a few centimeters above the water. The lotus typically grows to a height of 150 centimeters and extends horizontally to 3 meters. The lotus leaves can be up to 60 centimeters in diameter. The eye-catching lotus flowers can be up to 20 centimeters in diameter.

The lotus, belonging to the dicotyledonous plant genus Lotus in the order of buttercups and water lilies, which includes two species, the Chinese lotus and the American lotus. Chinese lotus distributed in Asia, Oceania, most of the plants are tall, oval leaves, green, cultivated varieties of flower type has a single petal, compound petal, heavy petal, heavy platform, thousands of petals of points, the flower red to white; American lotus is distributed in North America, the plant is short, the leaf is nearly round, dark green, the flower is only seen in a single-valve type, yellow, is still in the semi-wild state. According to ancient botanists research fossils confirmed that as early as 135 million years ago, in the northern hemisphere, many of the waters of the distribution of plants in the genus Lotus. In China, found in 1973, "Hemudu culture" site, there are lotus pollen fossils, determined, 7000 years ago. This shows that, at least 7000 years ago, lotus in China has been distributed, and even has been used as food. Although some present-day sources state that the lotus originated in India, it is China that is the origin of the lotus through historical data. Lotus in China has a long history of cultivation, spreading very widely. West to the northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains, east of the island of Taiwan, north of Heilongjiang, south of Hainan Sanya. It can be said that China is the world cultivation center of the lotus.

The lotus is one of the oldest dicotyledonous plants, and at the same time has some of the characteristics of monocotyledonous plants. The germ of the lotus is wrapped in scales, similar to monocotyledons. From the structure of the flower, lotus has 3 or 4 layers of perianth, the outer whorl is sepal-like, the inner whorl is petal-like, the stamens are numerous, the pistils are free, and the pollen grains are uniglobular and boat-shaped. Lotus stems have obvious segmentation phenomenon, underground stem nodes full of fibrous roots. These are the characteristics of monocotyledonous plants. The buds of the lotus are mixed buds, and the lotus buds that people see with the naked eye are the terminal buds of the root as well as the axillary buds of each node. Roots are divided into two kinds: seed roots and adventitious roots. The main root formed by the embryonic root of the seed from which the seed is sown is underdeveloped, and it is the adventitious root that plays a functional role. As for the lotus stem is known as the lotus root, it is actually the underground rhizome of the lotus, is the lotus storage nutrients and for reproduction organs. The flower of lotus is solitary, bisexual, and consists of six parts: calyx, corolla, androecium, gynoecium, receptacle, and flower stalk. There are many varieties and rich flower colors.

Leaves are divided into three kinds: the leaves initially produced by the terminal buds, small in shape with thin stalks, floating on the surface of the water, known as the money leaf, or lotus money; the earliest from the lotus root belt to grow a slightly larger leaf, also floating on the surface of the water, called floating leaves; and later on, from the lotus root belt to grow out of the surface of the water is called the standing leaf. Whether they are money leaves, floating leaves or standing leaves, they are all relatively inwardly rolled into a ribbed shape before they come out of the water. The size, height and order of the standing leaves show a clear ascending and descending gradient according to the early and late growth. The standing leaves that are drawn out when the new roots are formed are larger than the previous ones and have shorter spines, called "back leaves", and in front of them there appears another leaf that is small in shape, with a short stalk and a reddish dorsum, called "termination leaf". People only need to identify the termination of the leaf, you can find the direction of the new lotus root in the mud.

The flower primordium of the lotus is embedded in the buds at the lotus root, on the back of the base of the young leaves; the flower is solitary and bisexual; sepals are 4-5, green, falling off after the flower opens; the camps are long peach-shaped, peach-shaped or round peach-shaped, dark violet or grayish-green; the flower has a single petal, compound petals, heavy platform, thousand petals, the color of crimson, pink, white, talk about the changes in the green and inter-color; the flowering period is from June to September, a single flower period of only 3-4 days, more than unfolded and closed at noon, the thousand petals can open more than 10 days, the flower can open more than 10 days. Thousands of petals can open more than 10 days; the maximum diameter of the flower can reach 30 cm, the smaller less than 10 cm; stamens 60~450 or valvular, anthers of the appendages of yellow, white filaments; school head terminal, ovary superior, most of the separation of the carpels, scattered in the bowl-shaped, trumpet-shaped green receptacle. The receptacle that expands after the flowers are gone is called the rosette, on which there are 3-30 chambers, and when the development is normal, each carpel forms an ellipsoid nutlet. Sometimes the carpels "blister" or petalization, can not form a fruit. The fruit is commonly known as the lotus seed, the pericarp is greenish when it is green and boiled, and becomes dark blue when it is ripe. The surface of the pericarp has stomata and guard cells, there is a strong and dense fenestrated tissue under the epidermis, under the stomata there is a stomatal tract, the stomatal tract of mature lotus seed pericarp shrinks to a small size, not allowing air and water to come and go freely, and even preventing microorganisms from entering. This special organization ensures the longevity of the lotus seed. It can be buried in the ground for thousands of years without damage, and can even be used for seed germination.

Species

There are many lotus cultivars, which can be divided into the three systems of lotus root, lotus seed and lotus flower according to their different uses. According to the classification standard of Chinese Lotus Varieties Atlas***, they are divided into 3 series, 50 groups, 23 categories and 28 groups. That is:

Chinese lotus system:

I. Large and medium-sized flower groups:

a. Single-petal category: 1. Single-petal Red Lotus group 2. Single-petal Pink Lotus group 3. Single-petal White Lotus group

b. Compound-petal category: 4. Compound-petal Pink Lotus group

c. Heavy-petal category: 5. Heavy-petal Red Lotus group 6. Heavy-petal Pink Lotus group 7. Heavy-petal White Lotus group 8. Heavy-petal Sprinkle Brocade group

d. Heavy table class: 9. Red table lotus group

e. Thousand-petal class: 10. Thousand-petal lotus group

II. Small flower group:

f. Single-petal class: 11. Single-petal red bowl lotus group 12. Single-petal pink bowl lotus group 13. Single-petal white bowl lotus group

g. Compound petals: 14. Compound-petal red bowl lotus group 15. Compound-petal pink bowl lotus group 16. Compound-petal white bowl lotus group

h.Repetition: 17.Repeated red bowl lotus group 18.Repeated pink bowl lotus group 19.Repeated white bowl lotus group.

B. American Lotus line:

III. Large and medium-sized flower group:

i. Single-petal class: 20. Single-petal yellow lotus group

C. Chinese and American mongrel lotus line

IV. Large and medium-sized flower group:

j. Single-petal class: 21. Mongrel single petal red lotus group 22. Mongrel single petal pink lotus group 23. Mongrel single petal yellow lotus group 24. Mongrel Single-petal compound color lotus group

k. Compound petal class: 25. Bastard compound white lotus group 26. Bastard compound yellow lotus group

V. Small flower group:

l. Single-petal class: 27. Bastard single-petal yellow lotus group

m. Compound petal class: 28. Bastard compound white lotus group

There are a lot of lotus cultivars, according to the different uses can be divided into the lotus root lotus, lotus and flower lotus three major systems. The lotus cultivars are divided into three systems: lotus root, lotus seed, and lotus flower. Lotus has been used as a tonic and medicine in China for more than 2000 years. The lotus flower is a representative of holiness and a symbol of Buddhist holiness and purity.

The lotus flower is free from dust and dirt, clean and flawless, so the Chinese people and the majority of Buddhist believers in the lotus flower "out of the silt but not stained, Maundy League and not demon" noble quality as a motto to inspire their own cleanliness and self-improvement. The lotus flower is a symbol of friendship and messenger.

Ancient Chinese folk have spring plum gift far, picking lotus in the fall to cherish the tradition. Since ancient times, the Chinese people have regarded the lotus seed as a precious food, and today it is still a high-level nourishing and nutritious product, with numerous places specializing in lotus seed production. Lotus root is the best vegetable and candied fruit. Lotus leaves, lotus flowers, lotus stamens, etc. are also the Chinese people's favorite medicinal food. Visible lotus food culture is rich and colorful.

The traditional lotus congee, lotus breast, lotus seed powder, lotus root slices with meat, lotus leaf steamed meat, lotus leaf porridge and so on to name a few. In Chinese flower culture, the lotus is the most interesting flower poetry objects and bird painting subjects; is the most beautiful and colorful dance material; is also a variety of architectural decoration, sculpture and living utensils on the most commonly used and most beautiful pattern decoration and modeling. Lotus deserves to be the traditional flower of China.

Lotus in the garden application

Lotus, one of China's top ten flowers, it is not only big and colorful, fragrance far and wide, Lingbo Cuigui cover, but also has a strong adaptability, can be planted in lakes, spectacular, but also pots and bottles, interesting; since ancient times, it is the precious aquatic flowers of the court and private gardens, in today's modern landscape garden, more and more favored by people! People's favor, more widely used.

(A) Lotus water features

1, Lotus Specialized Park:

Recently, the rise of domestic Lotus Specialized Park there are three kinds of: one is like the Wuhan East Lake Mushan Garden Botanical Garden, the garden opened a lotus to ornamental, research, mainly in the large aquatic flower area; one is like the Nanjing Mochou Lake, Hangzhou, Hangzhou, the new "Courtyard Wind Lotus," this kind of is a lotus appreciation of the main large-scale parks; and then a kind of Is to the fun-oriented, tourism combined with the production of lotus folklore tourism resources scenic spots, such as Sanshui, Guangdong Lotus World, Yueyang, Hunan Tuan Lake Scenic Area.

2, in landscape gardens as the theme of water plants: as the saying goes, "the garden is not strong without the mountain, the mountain is not beautiful without water", with the lotus arrangement of water features, in the Chinese garden is extremely common. South of the famous garden, more than with the appreciation of the lotus landscape building, Yangzhou's Slender West Lake in the embankment built "lotus bridge", the bridge on the jade pavilion heights staggered, the shape of the simple and elegant, beautifully chic, and the lake lotus reflect the interest, is the best place in the landscape of the Slender West Lake, Yueyang Jin Osprey Park, the lotus incense Square built near the water, and the Qu rail remote through, the incense bushes, the wind, the rain to appreciate the lotus, by the masses love.

3, for the four seasons can be appreciated in the summer flowers: the landscape of the four seasons is different, is the Chinese gardeners abide by the rules of gardening, such as plum blossoms resistant to winter, willow willow silk to welcome the spring, the green lotus in the summer, Tong Leaf alarmed by the fall. Lotus green ornamental period of up to 8 months, groups of flowers in 2 ~ 3 months or so. In summer and fall, people lack of cicadas, peaches and plums without words, Pavilion lotus in a pool of blue water emits a refreshing fragrance, so that people upward and downward, relaxed and happy.

4, as a multi-level configuration of the foreground, in the landscape, the main landscape: Chinese gardens in the configuration of plants pay close attention to the level of change, in order to form a near and far, high and low different rich landscape. Willow and lotus and planting is a typical technique. Liu Osprey in the "old man travels" in the "four side of the lotus three side of the willow, a city of mountains and half the city lake" to summarize the Jinan Daming Lake. Hunan Xiangtan Rain Lake Park spring willow flakes, small lotus dew tip; summer and fall flowers and leaves Pavilion, willow green; winter willow batch snow, residual lotus sound, is not lost as a good scenic spot.

5, as industrial waste water pollution in the waters of the "filter": because the lotus root underground stems can absorb aerobic microbial decomposition of pollutants in the water after the product, so the lotus can help polluted waters to restore the structure of the food chain, and contribute to the gradual realization of the benign cycle of the aquatic ecosystem.

(2) Lotus potted plants and bonsai

The lotus has a strong adaptability to the growing environment, not only in the size of lakes, ponds, spitting red shaking Cui, and even in the very small pots and bowls can be elegant, decorating the world. In the history of China's lotus culture, this form of pot lotus appeared at the beginning was only used for private garden ornamental. Nowadays, in China's gardens around the world, the application of pots of lotus is very extensive. Pots and pools planted in combination with the arrangement of techniques to improve the ornamental value of pots of lotus in the garden water features and garden vignettes often appear. Lotus water stone bonsai is a new kind of bonsai appeared in Hangzhou in the past few years. It is the organic combination of lotus potted plants and water and stone bonsai, reflecting the rigidity and uprightness of the stone, but also show the delicate and charming lotus. Lotus bonsai can choose coral stone, sand accumulation stone, axe stone, English stone and other rocks as materials.

(C) lotus flower arrangement

Flower arrangement in China began in the Sixth Dynasty, originating from the flowers in front of the Buddha. As the holy flower of Buddhism, so it can be said that flower arrangement in the rise of the convenience of the lotus has formed an unbreakable bond. During the Tang and Song dynasties, flower offering was still a major form of flower arrangement. To the Ming and Qing dynasties, the art of flower arrangement has made great progress, at this time the lotus flower arrangement both artistic depth and skills, have risen to a new level, can be called China's ancient art of flower arrangement in its heyday. Today, people have a more in-depth study of the lotus flower arrangement, not only the lotus, lotus leaves, lotus root and lotus seeds and other materials in the flower arrangement in the use of more and more common, but also on the ornamental effect of these materials also made a scientific comparison. Lotus flower arrangements generally choose small and medium-sized varieties appropriate, but also appropriate with other plants, leaves, fruits, and strive for colorful and bright composition, enjoy the effect can be maintained for 3 ~ 4 days.

(D) carry forward the Chinese "and" culture

The excellent traditional Chinese culture, has always been very important to advocate peace, harmony. In this regard, the most representative of the two words of Confucius, one is to say "peace and differences"; the other is to say "peace is precious". The "peace" referred to in Chinese culture is by no means a reconciliation of differences and contradictions. Rather, it refers to the integration of differences and diversity. This kind of coherence and integration is the most valuable. There are 56 ethnic groups and 34 administrative regions in China, and there are differences and contradictions among them. In the face of such differences and contradictions, it is most valuable to insist on the unity of the nation and the unity of the motherland, and to adhere to the position of "harmony". And to abandon this "and" position is to abandon the excellent traditional Chinese culture.

Because the "lotus" and "and", "together" resonance, "lotus" and "joint", "even" resonance, the traditional Chinese culture, often to the lotus flower as a symbol of peace, harmony, cooperation, cooperation, unity, solidarity, unity, and so on; to the lotus flower of the high and pure symbol of the cause of peace, the harmony of the world's high and pure. Therefore, in a sense, lotus appreciation is also a promotion of Chinese "and" culture. Lotus varieties are rich and colorful, is "lotus (and) and different", but also *** with the same composition of the noble lotus world, is "lotus (and) for the noble". I sincerely hope that lotus culture can be understood and known by more people in the process of promoting the culture of peace and harmony. The promotion of Chinese "peace" culture is of special significance to our cause of promoting the unification of the motherland, maintaining world peace and building a harmonious society.

The origin of lotus aliases

<a> the name of the lotus

1. Named after its appearance.

Lotus: Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" explains, "The lotus stem is loaded with lotus leaves, and the leaves are loaded with flowers, hence the name." Hibiscus: also known as "Fu Rong". The Han dictionary "Er Ya" explains: "Hibiscus contains Shixi Pu also." The Shuo Wen Jie Zi (Explanation of Chinese Characters) also says, "Nymphaea is Nymphaea before it develops, and hibiscus after it has developed." Li Shizhen also said that hibiscus is "the meaning of "dressing cloth", no wonder Si Ma Xiangru, a writer in the Han Dynasty, compared his wife, Zhuo Wenjun, to the hibiscus in the water.

2. Named after its growth habit.

Water Chi, water flowers, water rue, water Dan, water, water, Ze Zhi: Because the lotus is a perennial rooted aquatic plants, so the ancients categorized it as water plants, the name more for the "water" word at the beginning. Three Kingdoms writer Cao Zhi in his "Hibiscus Fugue" praised to "see a hundred flowers of the Yingmao, no Sihua unique spirit", the lotus flower is compared to the water Ganoderma lucidum.

3. Named after the holy and elegant temperament of the lotus.

Junhua, Lingbo Fairy, Water Palace Fairy, Jade Ring and so on. According to the "North Dreams ZuoYan" records: the Tang Dynasty Yuan and years (806 ~ 820 years) Su Chang far living in WuZhong (now suzhou), met a plain clothes pink-faced girl, gave him a jade ring, soon, he found himself in the courtyard of the pool in full bloom in the lotus, stamens, there is also a jade ring, but "folded by the end of the", and then called the lotus flower The lotus flower is also known as the Jade Ring.

<two> lotus root aliases

Jade section: lotus root for the underground stems, color white as jade, section, so the name.

Jade Linglong: lotus root white and tender as wrist, so the name.

Jade arm dragon: according to legend, the late Tang celebrity Cui Yuan family villa in Chang'an city south, there is a wedge pool, from the pool to dig out a large giant lotus root, long as a dragon, so the name of the jade arm dragon, also known as the wedge treasure.

<three> lotus alias

Jade Chrysalis: lotus seed color white as jade, shaped like a chrysalis. Ancient Anonymous "lotus" poem: "not lotus arena honey, square jade chrysalis not bee." Therefore, the lotus seed also has the elegant name of white jade pupa.

Lake Eye: Because the lotus root is born in the lake and the lotus seed like eyes, so the name. Pi Rixiu "summer scene of the Tantalum Poem": "Tiantai all get a thousand back to the spring, the lake eyes of the fragrance to the white ferry tour." Su Shi in the "memory of Jiangnan send pure as" poem also mentioned: "Lake eye can also be for the eyes, wood slaves since enough for life."

Origin of the lotus

"Lotus" is known as "living fossil", is one of the earliest origin of angiosperms.

Before the emergence of mankind, about one hundred and forty-five million years ago, most of the earth was covered by oceans, lakes and swamps. At that time, the climate was harsh, disasters were frequent no animals, most of the plants were eliminated, and only a few extremely strong wild plants grew on this barren earth. Among them, there is a kind of aquatic plants we call "lotus" today, withstood the test of nature, in China's Amur River (today's Heilongjiang), the Yellow River, Yangtze River Basin and the northern hemisphere of the swamps and lakes in the tenacious survival. After about nine thousand years, primitive humans began to appear. In order to survive, mankind collected wild fruits to satisfy their hunger, and soon discovered that the wild fruits and roots of this "lotus flower" (i.e., lotus seeds and roots) were not only edible, but also sweet, fragrant and tasty. Gradually, the "lotus" as a source of food for human survival will be y imprinted in our ancestors - the original human heart, become a symbol of human survival.

Until the Neolithic era in the fifth or sixth millennium BC, with the emergence of farming culture, human beings began to further understand the lotus. At that time, human beings in order to live on the demand for water, generally settled in the river bank lakeside or natural springs of the swamp area, and these zones is the main distribution area of wild lotus. From the unearthed artifacts: in the north of Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, Dahe Village excavation of the "Yangshao culture" room base site, found on the indoor countertop charcoal grains and two lotus seeds, determined that there is a 5,000 years of history. Humans in the continuous production and labor, the growth habits of the lotus flowers, living environment, etc. accumulated a wealth of perceptual knowledge, for the development of China's ancient culture of flower paste to lay a good foundation.

Formation of culture - lotus culture from the Western Zhou to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods

Since the 11th century BC, China has entered the feudal era from the long slavery society - the Western Zhou. During this period, the lotus flower went from the wild state of lakeside marshes to the ponds in people's fields. The Book of the Zhou contains "Serval has been exhausted, both lotus digging lotus root." Visible, then the wild lotus has begun as edible vegetables. By the Spring and Autumn period, people will be part of the lotus organs were set up a moniker. China's earliest dictionary, the early Han Dynasty, "Er Ya" recorded: "lotus, lotus flower, its stem eggplant, its leaves, its dense, its painting Han, its actually lotus, its root root, in which Gentile, Gentile in the Job." The understanding of the lotus has a certain concept.

The lotus flower with its practicality into the people's labor life, at the same time, but also by virtue of its colorful, elegant style deep into people's spiritual world. China's earliest collection of poems, "The Book of Songs", there is a description of the lotus "mountains have Fusu, marshmallows and lotus." "There are cattails and lotuses in the Pei of the Zephyr." Lotus as an ornamental plant introduced to the garden pond planting, the earliest in 473 BC, King Wu Fu-chai in his Palace (that is, the current Suzhou Lingyan Mountain) for the favorite concubine Xi Shi enjoy the lotus and the construction of the "play flower pond". The Spring and Autumn period bronze artifact "Lotus and Crane Square Pot" (118 cm in height, Palace Museum Collection) reflects the importance of the lotus flower to the spirit of the times in terms of art. This artifact is drawn from real nature, with a generalized lotus pattern, and dragons and chi dragons leaping about. It can be seen that the lotus is deified as the dragon, chi dragon and cranes, and has become a symbol of the sublime and holy in people's minds.

<Three> the development of lotus culture - the period from the Qin and Han Dynasties to the North and South Dynasties of the lotus culture

Before the Qin and Han Dynasties, the feudal lords, wars are frequent, the laborers are in dire straits, the Qin Shi Huang in 221 BC united China, the end of the situation of chaos. In this unified empire, lotus culture has been fully developed, and gradually penetrated into agriculture, economy, medicine, religion, art and other fields.

The Han Dynasty was a period of unprecedented development of Chinese agriculture, which also played an important role in the development of lotus cultivation. Before the Han, China's lotus varieties are single-petal type of red lotus. To the Wei and Jin dynasties, the emergence of heavy petal lotus. The North and South Dynasties period and the development of a thousand petals (juxtaposed) lotus.

Beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, the rapid development of China's official and private commerce, enriching the variety of goods in various regions, is of great significance to the spread of the distribution of the lotus. Jiangling, Hefei, Chengdu and other specialties - lotus root are through these centers of commerce market into the north, fundamentally expanding the distribution of the lotus region, so that the people in the north to further recognize the lotus, understanding of the lotus, which greatly improves the cultivation techniques of the lotus. Northern Wei JiaSiFo's "QiMinYaoJu" recorded "planting lotus root method": "digging lotus root joints in early spring, the head of the fish pond mud planted, that year that is the lotus."; and "seed lotus. ; and "seed lotus law": "August 9 to take the lotus firm black, on the tile grinding lotus head to make the skin thin, take the mud for the cooked mud seal, such as three fingers big, two inches long, so that the lotus head flat weight grinding away sharp, dry mud thrown in the pool under the mud of the heavy head, the natural weeks of the skin, the skin is thin and easy to birth, a little while that is, it does not grind, the skin is Firm and thick, haste can not also." Visible, then the north and south coasts of the Central Plains region of the lotus cultivation technology has been quite superb.

China's medicine from the Qin and Han dynasties began a new development. After tasting all kinds of herbs in the Han Dynasty, Shennong summarized a set of good prescriptions for curing diseases, namely, the "Classic of Materia Medica", also known as the "Divine Husbandman's Classic of the Materia Medica", which contains descriptions of the medicinal and health care functions of the lotus root. Hua Tuo of Qiao County in the Eastern Han Dynasty, is a famous doctor in the history of medicine in China, he was in the operation, the first to the patient to drink anaesthesia, so that it is unconscious, router cut the abdomen behind the suture wounds, and finally applied to the lotus root skin and other made of ointment, four or five days after the healing will take place. Lotus has become a rare treasure trove of medicine in China.

During the Western Han Dynasty, the music and lyrics gradually flourished, resulting in a number of beautiful ballads of lotus picking. Among them, there are "Lotus Picking Song" (also known as "Lotus Picking Woman", "Lake Lotus Picking Woman"), etc., the singer and dancer dressed in red, tied halo skirts, riding the lotus boat, holding the lotus, singing and dancing, overflowing with a strong sense of life, is one of the most favorite folk traditional songs and dances of the majority of the people in China.

<four> the prosperity of lotus culture - the Sui and Tang dynasties to the Ming and Qing dynasties of lotus culture

After the Sui and Tang dynasties, the lotus cultivation techniques to further improve the lotus poetry, painting, sculpture, crafts and other lotus culture is more colorful; in the dietary culture, the lotus has further become a valuable tonic for people's health. In dietary culture, lotus has further become a valuable tonic for people's health care. At the same time, the lotus has entered private gardens by virtue of its colorful and graceful appearance. For example, in the southeast corner of Chang'an, there was the Yichun Garden in the Qin and Han Dynasties, which was renamed Hibiscus Garden after the Sui Dynasty established the capital of Chang'an; and the Quyuan Fenghe in Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou), the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty. Especially after the reign of Zhenguan, the lotus was used more and more widely and became a source of inspiration for the creation of craftsmen. For example, the decoration of porcelain and bronze mirrors in the Sui and Tang dynasties were mostly decorated with lotus flower patterns; on gold and silverware, especially on the edge of the plate, they were mostly decorated with rich lotus petal patterns, and the whole style was gorgeous and real. The dyeing and spinning industry of the Song Dynasty had a higher development than that of the Tang Dynasty. The famous female painter and woof worker Zhu Kerou created the lotus woof pattern, "ancient light and elegant", for a moment of masterpiece. The woodblock prints of the Ming and Qing dynasties used "Lian (Lotus) Noble Son", "Lian (Lotus) Years of Fortune (Fish)" and other auspicious lotus patterns to express people's ideological aspirations.

In the history of art painting in China, lotus art is more colorful. The most famous is the Southern Song Dynasty Painting Academy Wu Bing's "Hibiscus", vivid and delicate portrayal of the lotus fresh and elegant temperament. There is also the late Ming Dynasty painter Zhang Zizheng's "Hibiscus and Mandarin Ducks".