Introduction of Lotus Flower

The lotus, also known as the lotus flower, is an aquatic herb.

It is born in the turquoise waves and blooms in the hot summer.

The leaves are like jasper disks, the stems are like green emerald columns, and the flowers are like lotus flowers, with a fresh fragrance.

After the flowers and a tray of pearl-like, nutritious lotus seeds, buried in the ground, sweet and crispy root stem.

It is really a treasure of the whole body, both ornamental value and economic benefits.

Lotus was a precious flower in ancient times for palace gardens or private gardens, and has been widely chosen as a theme plant for water gardens in modern garden layout.

Whether it is greening the water or beautifying the garden, it can produce a strong landscape effect.

And also purify water, reduce pollution, improve the environment and other functions.

The lotus is born in swamps, lakes and ponds.

Flowers, leaves, stems straight, standing in the water, welcome the sun without fear, out of the mud without staining, giving a person a sense of purity and elegance, throughout the ages, was used to praise people's noble character.

The lotus is native to subtropical regions and Oceania, China in addition to ***, Qinghai, the whole country has distribution.

Lotus leaves are large, round, up to 70 centimeters in diameter, with 14-21 radial veins.

The leaf surface is dark green, rough, visible under magnification, the leaf surface is covered with short blunt spines, between the spines there is a layer of waxy white powder, which is the self-protection device of the lotus leaf.

When the rain falls on the leaf surface, it immediately coalesces into a size of water droplets, which can be rolled with the wind without wetting the leaves.

Lotus in the long-term natural evolution and artificial cultivation process, the formation of many varieties, has reached more than 200, usually divided into two categories of edible and ornamental:

Edible

1, lotus root lotus

The plant is tall, strong rhizome, strong, non-flowering or less blooming to eat rhizome-based.

2. ZiLian

The rhizome is undeveloped, fine and poor quality, with many branches, flowers are mainly monopetalous, with many flowers, high fructification rate, and large lotus seeds, mainly edible lotus seeds.

Ornamental

Known as the flower lotus, the rhizome is fine and soft, poor quality, stems and leaves are small, but blooms a lot, flowers are complex, colorful, with high ornamental value.

According to the heavy petal sex, flower color and plant type, etc. are divided into the following types.

1, single-petal type

Large flowers, petals about 16-20.

2, double petal type

Part of the stamens petalized, more petals, about 21-59.

3, double petal type

All stamens petalized, more petals, about 60-190, shorter and rounded petals, flower diameter is slightly smaller, and generally do not bear fruit.

4, Buddha seat type

Increase in petals very much, often more than 200, not fruitful.

5, heavy platform type

Gynoecium also petalized, protruding above the flower into a heavy platform.

6, multi-flower type

Also known as the thousand-petal lotus, is a rare lotus.

A flower bud contains more than two floral centers, which are developed by the metamorphosis of the receptacle into two or more axes.

When the flower opens, the outer petals fall off layer by layer, and the inner broken petals (i.e., the small petals of the stamen metamorphosis) continue to proliferate, and rotate into two flower centers or more tea centers.

Appearance of double-centered.

"Juxtilian", three-centered called "Pinzhi lotus", four-centered called "four-faced lotus" or "Tianzhi lotus", multi-centered called "five lotus" or "hydrangea lotus", are not fruitful.

There is another phenomenon, that is, the lotus buds in the process of differentiation, by some external environmental conditions, and divided into two meristematic centers, and then developed into two twins of the flower buds, so in a flower stem and open two flowers, a pair of rosettes.

This is an accidental phenomenon, is not a characteristic of the species, but folk as an auspicious token, known as the "Ruilian".

7, bowl lotus

Where planted in the caliber of 26 centimeters of the tank, plant height of about 33 centimeters, the diameter of the standing leaves does not exceed 24 centimeters, 12 centimeters or less in diameter, the small varieties of the flower is known as the bowl lotus.

Lotus and Buddhism are inextricably linked to the Buddhist belief that the lotus flower grows out of the mud, but is not contaminated by the mud, and very fragrant, so the lotus flower is considered to be a reward for the Buddha's residence in the "Pure Land", so the Buddhist Shakyamuni, Goddess of Mercy, are seated on top of the lotus flower.

But the "lotus" in Buddhism, but also includes the same family water lily genus water lily, it and the main difference between the lotus is the leaves floating in the water and not out of the water, the leaves are ovate, the base of the cleft is arrow-shaped, the ovary and receptacle born together.

~ Lotus Festival ~

Lotus flowers are large and colorful, fragrant.

Since ancient times, it is one of China's traditional flowers loved by people.

The old folk custom in southern China to June 24 as the birthday of the lotus, people to plant lotus spots in pairs to see lotus, said "lotus festival".

~ lotus distribution ~

As one of the world's earliest angiosperms, the lotus has a wide geographic distribution, in addition to China, Japan, the Soviet Union, Iran, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Australia have been published.

And in China, from Hainan Island in the south, north to the Heilongjiang Province of Fujin, car near Shanghai to Taiwan Province, west to the northern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, in addition to the *** Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province, most of the country have lotus distribution.

~ lotus culture ~

In the 80's Jinan City, Shandong Province, Xuchang City, Henan Province, Zhaoqing City, Guangdong Province, selected the lotus as the city flower.

The newly established Special Administrative Region of China also chose the lotus as its regional flower.

The lotus flower, which flourishes in the motherland, has been penetrating into all areas of people's lives with its beautiful gestures since ancient times.

Poetry based on the lotus, first seen in the "Poetry Classic" Pei Ze's Pei, there are bushes and lotus, "three thousand years ago, the folk have been a metaphor for the beauty of women with the lotus, and bushes and mentioned, to symbolize the love between men and women.

The beauty of the lotus flower has also been respected by the literati throughout the ages.

The Song Dynasty scholar Zhou Dunyi's essay "Love Lotus" is just a short piece of writing that renders the lotus flower's pure and holy character to the fullest, in which "out of the silt and mud, the Maundy League and not demon.

"The famous sentence is widely recited, the lotus is known as the flower of the gentleman.

~ lotus varieties ~

The reason why the lotus has become one of China's famous flowers, an important reason is that the former cultivated for us colorful, ornamental value of the varieties, to the late 90's, China's lotus varieties have amounted to more than 300, the number of its excellent varieties, leading the international community, many of these varieties are rare.

<a> the 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 plants were eliminated, and only a few extremely vigorous wild plants grew on this barren planet.

Among them, there is a kind of aquatic plants we call "lotus" today, withstood the test of nature, in China's Amur River (now the Heilongjiang River), the Yellow River, the Yangtze River Basin and the northern hemisphere of the swamps and lakes in the tenacity to survive.

After about nine thousand years, primitive humans began to appear.

In order to survive, human beings collected wild fruits to satisfy their hunger, and soon discovered that the wild fruits and roots of this "lotus flower" (i.e., lotus seed and lotus root) were not only edible, but also sweet, fragrant, and delicious.

Gradually, the "lotus", the source of food for human survival, was y engraved in the hearts of our ancestors - primitive mankind, and became a symbol of human survival.

Until the Neolithic era in the fifth or sixth millennium BC, with the emergence of the farming culture, mankind began to further understand the lotus.

At that time, human beings settled along rivers and lakes or in swampy areas with natural springs to meet their water needs, and these areas were the main distribution zones for the wild lotus.

From the unearthed artifacts: in the northern part of Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, the excavation of the "Yangshao culture" house base site, found on the indoor surface of the charcoal grain and two lotus seeds, determined that there is a 5,000 years of history.

Human beings in the continuous production of labor, the growth habits of the lotus flowers, living environment, etc. have accumulated a wealth of perceptual knowledge, for the Chinese ancient culture of paste flowers to lay a good foundation for the development of the generation.

<two> the formation of lotus culture --- the Western Zhou to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period of the lotus culture

Since the 11th century BC, China from the long slavery society into the feudal era --- Western Zhou.

It was during this period that the lotus moved from the wild state of lakeside marshes into the ponds of people's fields.

The Book of the Zhou contains the phrase "the serves have been depleted, both lotus and lotus root digging.

"It can be seen that the wild lotus has begun to be used as an edible vegetable.

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, which Geng, Geng in the Job.

"The understanding of the lotus has a certain concept.

Lotus 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 "Mountain Fusu, sermons and lotus.

"There are cattails and lotuses in the Pei of his zephyr".

The first time the lotus was planted as an ornamental plant was in 473 BC, when King Fu-chai of Wu built the "Flower Pond" for his favorite concubine, Xi Shi, to enjoy the lotus in his palace (Lingyan Mountain, Suzhou, nowadays).

The Spring and Autumn 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 fine art, with this artifact drawn from real nature, with a generalized lotus pattern, and with dragons and chi dragons in full motion.

It can be seen that the lotus was stretched dragon, chi dragons and cranes, as the same, become a symbol of the noble and holy in the minds of the people.

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

Before the Qin and Han, the vassals, frequent wars, laborers are in dire straits, Qin Shi Huang in 221 BC united China, the end of the situation of chaos.

In this unified empire, the lotus culture has been fully developed, gradually penetrated into various fields such as agriculture, economy, medicine, religion, art and so on.

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-valve red lotus.

By the Wei and Jin dynasties, the emergence of heavy petal lotus.

During the period of the North and South Dynasties, there were also thousands of petals (juxtaposed) lotus flowers developed.

Since the 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 lotus distribution.

Jiangling, Hefei, Chengdu and other specialties - lotus root are through these centers of commerce into the north, fundamentally expanding the distribution of the lotus, so that the people of the north to further recognize the lotus, understanding of the lotus, which greatly improves the cultivation techniques of the lotus.

The Northern Wei Jia Si Fo's "The Essential Art of Qi Min" recorded a "law of planting lotus roots": "Early in the spring to dig the root section of the lotus root, the head of the fish pond in the mud, planted in the same year, that is, there are lotus flowers.

"; 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 large, two inches long, so that the lotus head flat weight grinding 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 that is firm and thick, can not be in a hurry.

"Visible at that time, 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.

Shennong in the Han Dynasty, after tasting all kinds of grass, summarized a set of good treatment, that is, "Materia Medica", also known as "Shennong Ben Cao Jing", which has a description of the medicinal health functions of the lotus root.

Hua Tuo, East Han Dynasty Qiao County, is a famous god doctor in the history of medicine in China, he was before the operation, the first to the patient 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 paste, four or five days after the healing.

The lotus flower has become a rare piece of medicine in our country's treasure trove.

During the Western Han Dynasty, the music and rhetoric gradually flourished, resulting in a number of beautiful ballads of lotus picking.

One of them is "Lotus Picking Song" (also known as "Lotus Picking Woman", "Lake Lotus Picking Woman"), etc., the dancers dressed in red roses, the Department of halo skirt, 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 the lotus culture --- Sui and Tang to the Ming and Qing dynasties of the 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 more colorful; in the dietary culture, the lotus has further become a valuable tonic for people's health care.

At the same time, the lotus with its colorful, graceful into the private garden.

Such as Chang'an outside the southeast corner of the Qin and Han Dynasty, Yichunyuan, Sui Dynasty, after the establishment of the capital of Chang'an, renamed Hibiscus Garden; the Southern Song Dynasty capital of Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou City) of the Qu Yuan Fenghe.

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.

Such as the Sui and Tang dynasties of porcelain, bronze mirrors and other decorations are mostly used lotus flower pattern; gold and silver, especially on the edge of the plate, more decorated with rich lotus petal pattern, the whole style is gorgeous and real.

The dyeing and spinning industry of the Song Dynasty had a higher development than that of the Tang Dynasty.

Zhu Kerou, a famous female painter and woof artist, 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 aspirations.

In the history of China's art and painting, the art of lotus is even more colorful.

The most famous is the "Hibiscus" by Wu Bing of the Southern Song Painting Academy, which vividly and delicately depicts the elegant temperament of the lotus flower in a fresh and unassuming way.

There is also the late Ming painter Zhang Zizheng "Hibiscus and Mandarin Ducks".

<V> lotus culture - modern lotus culture

Since the Opium War, especially after the founding of New China, the majority of the working people in charge, the lotus has also become a beautification of people's lives, cultivation of sentiment of the precious flowers, known as one of the top ten flowers.

Mr. Sun Yat-sen, Premier Zhou Enlai and others have repeatedly advocated the development of lotus culture, and spread the seeds of friendship to friendly neighbors.

In 1918, Mr. Sun Yat-sen went east to Japan and brought nine lotus seeds unearthed in Pulai store on Liaodong Peninsula, and after careful cultivation, the ancient lotus seeds were planted successfully.

In 1963, Oga gave one hundred Oga lotus seeds to Guo Moruo, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

In April 1979, Deng Yingchao, Vice Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, visited Japan and visited Tang Shodi Temple in Nara, which was built by Jian ***, and Elder Takashun Morimoto handed over to Deng Yingchao, Vice Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, the lotus roots of the Tang Shodi Temple Lotus, Sun Wen Lotus, and Sino-Japanese Friendship Lotus, which had been cultivated by the experts of the Chinese and Japanese countries.

In April 1980, in order to celebrate the "Japanese National Exhibition of the Statue of Monk Jianzhen in China" to be exhibited in Daming Temple in Yangzhou, Wuhan Research Institute sent the lotus roots of Tang Zhaotiji Lotus, Sun Wen Lotus, and Sino-Japanese Friendship Lotus bred by Chinese and Japanese experts to the Daming Temple, and placed them in front of the Pingyuan Building, which is adjacent to the Memorial Hall of Jianzhen.

<six> The name of the lotus flower

1. Named after its physical characteristics.

Lotus: Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" explains, "The lotus stem is burdened 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 the Shixi Pu also.

"Another Chinese dictionary, Shuo Wen Jie Zi, says: "Nymphaea is Nymphaea before her hair grows, and hibiscus after her hair grows.

"Li Shizhen also said that hibiscus means "to be beautiful", so it's no wonder that Si Ma Xiangru, a writer in the Han Dynasty, compared his wife, Zhuo Wenjun, to a 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 will be categorized as aquatic grasses, take the name of more than the "water" word at the beginning.

Cao Zhi, a literary scholar of the Three Kingdoms, praised in his "Hibiscus Fugue" to "see the beauty of all the flowers, no Sihua alone," comparing the lotus to the Ganoderma lucidum in the water.

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

Junghua, Lingbo Fairy, Water Palace Fairy, Jade Ring and so on.

According to "North Dreams and ZuoYan" records: the Tang dynasty Yuan and years (806 --- 820 years) Su Chang live far away from WuZhong (present-day 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 "folding of the NaiJie", and later people also known as the lotus for the Jade Ring.