"Love Chrysanthemum Alone" shows Tao Yuanming's elegant, fragrant and proud personality, and also makes the question clearer: Tao Yuanming can love chrysanthemums to express his feelings, why can't I love lotus flowers alone? After writing "Since Li Tang came, the world has loved peonies", he wrote about the kindness of the people in the Tang Dynasty, especially the ruling class. These words seem to be repetitive, but in fact they deepen the meaning, and this sentence makes the sense of contrast stronger, paving the way for them to seek the nobility of lotus.
Zhou Dunyi's love for lotus flowers is different from Tao Jin Yuanming's love for chrysanthemums. In order to keep a noble and pure life, he would rather die in Nanshan. He wants to be a gentleman in the world. This mentality of staying innocent in a dirty world and seeking truth alone is essentially different from the herd mentality that everyone envies wealth (peony). This paves the way for Ailian's theory of "getting out of the mud without being stained".
Then the author put down the pen and said, let those people love what they love. "Love lotus is far from being stained, clear but not demon, straight through, not sloppy, fragrant and clear, graceful and pure, but far from being ridiculous." This series of narratives has effectively rendered the lotus's tall and beautiful posture, elegant and superior virtue, especially its respectable but unobtrusive demeanor.
The author of these metaphors has the noble character of "getting out of the mud without being stained, clearing the lotus without being demon". In fact, what he means is that officialdom is dark, so it is as difficult for you to maintain noble character in officialdom as a lotus getting out of the mud without being stained. This is also a summary of his experience as an official, because he doesn't want to go along with it.
And "Zhuo Qing Lian has no demon" is just a good wish of the author. He was an honest official, washed unjust imprisonment several times and was the master of the people. In his later years, he settled in Lushan Mountain, wrote books about Ming Dow, led an honest and clean life, and cared about his life. This is the embodiment of his personal commitment and lofty aspirations. This is the key point that this essay can deeply infect people's ideological interest.
Next, the author compares and evaluates the different characters of the three flower symbols: (1) Chrysanthemum is also a hermit of flowers; Peony, blooming with wealth; Lotus, the gentleman of flowers. "Originally, flowers have no personality, but in the author's eyes, lotus flowers are close to chrysanthemums, but they are not lofty and aloof, and seem to be a hermit who escapes from reality; It is not as enchanting and charming as peony. Lotus is not polluted because of the dirty reality, but washed with clear water without coquettish. What a gentleman in a hundred flowers.