In midsummer, Beijing parks and river banks entice us with the delicate perfume of the water lily or lotus (liánhuā 莲花 in Chinese), “the buds of which still keep the fragrance of the goddess of the Luo River,” as we read in the poem ‘Lotus’ by Wen Tingyun, a great lyricist of the Tang Dynasty.
Read on to find out all about the meaning of the lotus in ancient China!
By Ilina Tatiana
Wen’s poem refers to the famous scroll by Gu Kaizhi ‘Nymph of the Luo River’ or the poem it illustrates, ‘Rhapsody on the Divinity of the Luo’ by Cao Zhi (192 – 232 AD), a prince of Cao Wei (220–266 AD). The poem describes the prince’s imaginary encounter with the goddess, who is “glistering like the lotus flower emerging from vitreous waves.”
However attractive the flower may be, the Song philosopher Zhou Dunyi warns us “lotus is something to be appreciated from a distance and not to be profaned by intimate approach.” The lotus was the favorite flower of this cosmologist and philosopher who praised it for its purity and integrity. These qualities of the lotus are often associated with Buddhism. The flower that comes from the mud but never touches it, alludes to Buddha, his detachment from worldly things, self-control and vigilance, indifference to veneration and honor. The journey from the murky water to the fragrant blossoms expresses the idea of spiritual enlightenment. In this interpretation, the lotus is found in many Buddhist temples and tombs such as the cave temples in Dunhuang, Gansu province, begun during the Six Dynasties (220–589AD). In these ritual places the flower is depicted on painted or carved canopies, attached to the ceilings. They symbolize light emanating from the liberated mind and were part of a spiritually stimulating environment created with music, candle light, fragrant incense and shimmering gold and silver ornaments.
Although commonly associated with Buddhism, the lotus was considered an auspicious symbol with many connotations as early as the Eastern Han period (25–220 AD). For instance, its circular form and bright white color made people compare it to the light of the sun and the moon. We find more auspicious interpretations in art during the reign of Emperor Huizong (1082 –1135). The emperor saw auspicious symbols as instrumental in obtaining Heaven’s blessings. The pearl lotus together with golden tangerines, red crows and other extraordinary creatures and objects were ‘discovered’ to justify Heaven’s support of the emperor’s governance. To put aside any doubts, the discoveries were recorded pictorially in the Album of Auspicious Events.
Huizong not only painstakingly documented Heaven’s blessings but also did everything possible to make them happen. This is where he used paintings of auspicious symbols, including representations of lotus pods with many seeds symbolizing plentiful offspring and the mandarin duck with lotus motif which expresses aspirations for a happy relationship.
In the painting ‘White Lotus’ by Qian Xuan (1235-1305) the lotus takes on a more personal symbolism. The scroll depicts several flowers and leaves and is inscribed with a poem. The work expresses the artist’s mourning for the fallen Song Dynasty and is connected to a collection of poems ‘New Subjects for Ballads’ written by a group of literati in response to the looting of the Song imperial tombs. In the poem by Qian Xuan and those of the literati, the lotus alludes to empresses and consorts, “whose bones were strewn in the woods”, an imaginary meeting between Emperor Xuanzong and the spirit of his courtesan Yang Guifei and in general the role of women in state affairs.
Scattered bones of the Song empresses, fragrant as the goddess of the Luo River, bright as the sun and the moon … the lotus was not simply a flower in ancient China!
References:
温庭筠《莲花》
绿塘摇滟接星津，轧轧兰桡入白蘋。
应为洛神波上袜，至今莲蕊有香尘。
Kroll, P. W. “Seven Rhapsodies of Ts’ao Chih.” Journal of the American Oriental Society Vol. 120, No. 1 (Jan. – Mar., 2000): pp. 1-12, p. 10. https://www.jstor.org/stable/604881
Chang, H. C.. “Hsü Wei: Seven Stanzas on the Lotus.” Artibus Asiae. Supplementum Vol. 23, Essays Offered to G. H. Luce by His Colleagues and Friends in Honour of His Seventy-Fifth Birthday. Volume 1: Papers on Asian History, Religion, Languages, Literature, Music Folklore, and Anthropology (1966): pp. 102-106, p. 102 https://doi.org/10.2307/1522639
Ward, W.E. “The lotus symbol: Its meaning in Buddhist art and philosophy,” Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism Vol. 11, No. 2 (1952): pp. 135–146, p. 138 https://doi.org/10.2307/426039
For example, the cave temples in Dunhuang, Gansu, China, the Six Dynasties (220–589AD); Todai-ji temple, the city of Nara, Japan, mid-eighth century
Schulten, C. “Some Notes on the Use of Bronze Mirrors in the Tomb of Zhang Wenzao, Liao Period.” Cleveland Studies in the History of Art Vol. 9, Clarity and Luster: New Light on Bronze Mirrors in Tang and Post-Tang Dynasty China, 600-1300: Papers from a Symposium on the Carter Collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors at the Cleveland Museum of Art (2005): pp. 68-89, p. 80-84
https://www.jstor.org/stable/20079753
Ibid. p. 80
Sturman, P.C. “Cranes above Kaifeng: The Auspicious Image at the Court of Huizong.” Ars Orientalis Vol. 20 (1990): pp. 33-68, p. 35 https://www.jstor.org/stable/4629400
Barnhart, R. M. Three thousand years of Chinese painting. New Haven : Yale University Press, 1997, p. 89
White Lotus. Handscroll, ink and colors on paper. The Shandong Provincial Museum
Softly waving above the jade pool: white lotus blossoms.
Going, coming, blue birds are tranquil and silent.
The hermit doesn’t drink, but leisurely carries his staff,
Merely recalling the pure fragrance of flowers in the moonlight.
Translation from Harrist, Robert E., Jr. “Ch’ien Hsüan’s “Pear Blossoms”: The Tradition of Flower Painting and Poetry from Sung to Yüan.” Metropolitan Museum Journal Vol. 22 (1987): pp. 53-70, p. 66 https://www.jstor.org/stable/1512834
Sturman, P. C. “Confronting Dynastic Change: Painting after Mongol Reunification of North and South China.” Anthropology and Aesthetics No. 35, Intercultural China (Spring, 1999): pp. 142- 169, p. 150-151 http://www.jstor.org/stable/20167022
Did you know the symbolism of this beautiful flower before? What does the lotus symbolise in your culture? Let us know in the comments below. We always love hearing your thoughts and insights!
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