late autumn Lotus – Jinli, Chengdu, Sichuan, china

中文

There’s a small lotus pond inside Jinli.  Remember from one of my earlier Chengdu travel series where I mentioned that size is a very relative term, I use the word small here, but it is actually a decent size pond.  Well, for a pond any way.

Lotus is a very well known and popular flower through out the world, no exception here in China.  For the Chinese, lotus bear the meaning of clean, pure and enlightenment.  They also believe the lotus possesses purification power, so they will often bring lotus into their home to purify , cleanse and evict evil spirit.  The lotus is commonly seen as a symbol for Buddhism.

It was late autumn, almost the beginning of winter, all the beautiful lotus flower has already gone and the lotus it self are starting to wither.  Normally, it was the lotus flower that people admire, but I found the shriveling lotus flower offer a certain charm of them self.

The vibrant green is slowly force out by the power of seasonal change and while the green is bit by bit fading away, the color of fall is slowly taken over.  In a couple of weeks, the whole lotus field will be gone for the season, preserving only the root, resting peacefully in the bottom of the pond, patiently waiting for next season where it will sprung out to life and display that stunningly beautiful flower once again.

For now, all seem hopeless.  Nature is far too powerful to overcome, so for now, the lotus will slowly crumble away, leaving behind only bits of evidence of it previous glory.

 Of course, some will keep fighting, refusing to accept that the season is over, rejecting the intrusion of fall colors, prolonging the beauty that it is, proudly stand above the muddy water for as along as it could.

Late autumn lotus represents the transition of seasons very well, you can clearly see the force of nature in their colors and decay.  For me it reminded me of life, death, and rebirth, it provided some sort of spiritual connection to me, make me think about the great discussion of the meaning of life, quite inspirational actually :)

/Lumaca Moderno

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* Jinli is a popular tourist spot in Chengdu, Sichuan, China