Lotus

Ai lián shuō
爱莲说
(sòng)zhōu dūn yí
（宋）周敦颐

Shuǐlù cǎomù zhī huā,kěàizhě shèn fán,Jìn Táoyuānmíng dú ài jú.Zì lǐtáng lái,shì rén shèngài mǔdān 。
水陆(1)草木(2)之花，可爱者甚蕃(3)。晋陶渊明独爱菊。自李唐来，世人盛爱牡丹。
Yú dúàilián zhī chū yūní érbùrǎn,zhuóqīng lián érbùyāo,zhōng tōng wài zhí,bù màn bù zhī,xiāng yuǎn yì qīng,tíng tíng jìng zhí,kě yuǎnguān ér bùkě xiè wán yān.
予独爱莲之出淤泥(4)而不染，濯(5)清涟(6)而不妖，中通外直，不蔓不枝，香远益清，亭亭净植，可远观而不可亵玩焉。
Yú wèi jú,huā zhī yǐnyìzhě yě.Mǔ dān,huā zhī fùguìzhě yě.Lián,huā zhī jūnzǐzhě yě.Yī！Júzhīài，Táo hòu xiǎn yǒu wén.Liánzhīài,tóng yú zhě hé rén ? mǔdānzhīài,yí hū zhòng yǐ ！
予谓菊，花之隐逸者也；牡丹，花之富贵者也；莲，花之君子者也。噫！菊之爱，陶后鲜(7)有闻(8)。莲之爱，同予者何人?牡丹之爱，宜乎众矣！

Chinese explanation:

水上，陆地上的各种花草树木，值得喜爱的非常多。晋朝陶渊明唯独喜爱菊花。从唐朝以来世间的人们非常喜爱牡丹。我唯独喜爱莲花，它从淤泥中长出来，却不沾染污秽，在清水里洗涤过但是不显得妖媚，它的茎中间贯通，外形挺直，不生枝蔓，不长枝节，香气远播，更加清香，笔直地洁净地立在那里，可以远远地观赏但是不能玩弄它。
我认为，菊花是花中的隐士；牡丹，是花中的富贵者；莲花，是花中的君子。唉！对于菊花的喜爱，在陶渊明以后很少听到了。对于莲花的喜爱，和我一样的还有谁？对于牡丹的喜爱，当然有很多人了。

There is a variety of lovely flowers in the world.Tao Yuanming in Jin Dynasty only loved chrysanthemums。From the Tang Dynasty, people are very fond of peony.
But I do love lotus. In respect that It is not contaminated even growing in the muddy pond, and does not seem seductive even being washing off in clear water for years .Its middle is empty, while the external is straight without any vines or side branches. The farther, themore clearer aroma. Standing upright in the water, dignified and clean. It canbe only appreciated distantly but not touched blasphemously.
I believe that the chrysanthemum is a hermit in flowers while the peony is a rich and the lotus is undoubtedly a man of honor.We seldom find someone loves chrysanthemum like Tao,However, people like me who show the enthusiasm in the lotus are nearly nowhere to find. Then who likes peony? Almost everybody!

Notice:
(1)The Character “水陆”means water or on the land.(2)“草木”means natural plants and flowers.(3)The character”蕃”means so many,(4)”淤泥”means mud.
(5)The character”濯”（zhuó）means wash off,(6)”清涟”（lián）means clear water.(7)The charact” 鲜”（xiǎn)means seldom,”闻”means heard of.
Tao Yuanming is a very famous idyllist in Jin Dynasty,his most famous poet is On Driking Wine.
The author of the poem very loved lotus.The most famous sentences on the poet is “出淤泥而不染，濯清涟而不妖，中通外直，不蔓不枝，香远益清，亭亭净植，可远观而不可亵玩焉” is still polular in China till now.