Chapter Six - The Lotus: Becoming A Chinese Icon
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 October 2022
Summary
LOTUS, OR LIAN 蓮花 inChinese, is much venerated in China, but by now fewpeople understand the intricate origins of its nameand the relationship between it and hehua 荷花. It seems the termlianhua did start toappear in Chinese non-Buddhist documents towards theend of the Eastern Han, about one hundred yearsafter the religion officially entered China. Thearrival of the Indian lotus, as well as IndianBuddhism, gave Chinese culture a new term for itsown lotus; it also inspired Chinese writers led byCao Pi to rejuvenate their own lotus with newmeanings, namely nonattachment, sun-like radiance,and lotus-picking activities.
Etymology of Lianhua
The origin of the word lianhua 蓮華/花, also called hehua, a well-known term forlotus or lotus flower in modern Chinese, is amystery. The lotus plant was called hehua 荷華 or he in Shi jing 詩經,
山有扶蘇， On themountain is the mulberry tree,
隰有荷華。In themarshes is the lotus.
“Shan you fusu”山有扶蘇 in the Odes ofZheng 鄭風彼澤之陂， Where its shores the marsh surround
有蒲與荷。Rushes and lotus plants abound.
“Zebei” 澤陂in the Odesof Chen 陳風Mao Heng 毛亨 (fl. second century bce) explained that“Hehua is fuqu, and its flower iscalled handan”荷華芙蕖也，其華菡萏. He parallelled hehua and its flower, which meanshua does not meanflower, but a compound word for the plant. Thisunderstanding echoes Erya, the earliest surviving Chinesedictionary, which explains that each part of thisplant had its own name:
He, or fuqu, its stem is calledjia, its leaf calledxia, its root calledmi, its flowercalled handan, itsfruit called lian,its rhizome called ou, its seed called di, and the centre of the seed is calledyi.
荷，芙蕖，其莖茄，其葉蕸，其本蔤，其華菡萏，其實蓮，其根藕，其中的，的中薏
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- Fu Poetry along the Silk RoadsThird-Century Chinese Writings on Exotica, pp. 111 - 130Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2022