Letting It Bloom
- Peter Kam Fai Cheung SBS
- Sep 8, 2018
- 1 min read
Since retirement, I have enjoyed seeing and filming flowers. I have never liked plucked ones though, as they live on artificial support. I would only buy one or few roses as my Valentine's Day gift to my darling as she likes that.
After rowing at Ueno Park on September 6, 2018, I passed through a lotus lake and a lotus bud caught my eyes. I could not help but take a photo, capturing the moment and adding myself to it. Thereafter, the image re-emerged in my mind.
The next morning, I suddenly remembered an ancient literary piece I had long memorized. Zhou Dunyi 周敦頣 (1017-1073) described the lotus flower's growing habit of rooting in mud and pushing up to bloom:
"... ...予獨愛蓮之出淤泥而不染:濯清蓮而不妖;中通外直,不蔓不枝,香遠益清,亭亭淨植,可遠觀而不可褻玩焉... ..."
The elliptical title is: "Monologue about Loving Lotus" ("愛蓮説"). The author associated his trait and quality with the habit and feature of a lotus flower. I prefer the bud as keeping it pure and tight is more challenging than letting it bloom!
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