英語訳
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【Heading, boxed section】Lotus Flower
《Also called》Lotus leaves (kayō)
《Also called》Hibiscus
《From April to July》
Chinese lotus (tōren)
【Outside the box】The flowers are numerous in number, with buds that are red, or red at the base, or extremely red, and there are also white flowers. There are varieties called golden thread lotus and silver thread lotus, which have vein-like patterns visible on the petals. There is also Indian lotus.
The color is true red, petals are narrow, buds are small, and the petals fold inward like ten thousand petals. There are also white flowers, white with lotus red, and large lotus with true red and white blooming separately. ○Generally, lotus first produces floating leaves, second-tier leaves, and third-tier leaves before producing flower buds. The leaves gradually flourish and the flowers open.
The flowers open, then fall and become seed pods. Floating leaves refer to those that float and drift on the water's surface. Second-tier leaves are those that emerge next, rising slightly above the water to open, called "second tier." Third-tier leaves are those that stand upright above the second tier. Third-tier leaves emerge, produce buds, the leaves flourish, flowers open, and after opening and falling, become seed pods. When painting lotus leaves, first make the leaves flourish, then arrange flowers slightly below the leaves. When painting lotus flowers, arrange leaves slightly below the flowers. When painting lotus, raise the lotus pod high and arrange both leaves and flowers slightly below.
Sometimes scatter the flowers, wither the leaves and put them in water. The lotus pod seeds fly and lodge in the soil. Buds emerge, flowers flourish, and pod seeds fly. These three represent past, present, and future.
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○In the Erya dictionary, lotus is called fūkyo. Its stem is ka, its leaves are ka, its flowers are kantan, its fruit is ren, its root is gū, and its center is teki. ○In Kakubutsu Sōwa, lotus flowers with double tiers or double heads are considered auspicious. There are also those that rise at dawn and droop into the water at night, called water lilies. Lotus flowers are called water hibiscus grass or hibiscus grass.
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One name for lotus is kantan, another is water fūkyo. There are thousand-petal varieties (yellow thousand-petal, white thousand-petal, red). There are red-edged white-centered ones. There is horseshoe lotus, which has many large seeds. There is ink lotus. These are all fine varieties. Planted on Mount Hua, on the mountaintop there is
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a pond that produces thousand-petal lotus. When consumed, it enables spiritual transformation. This is what is called the jade well lotus of Taihua Peak in Zhenggu's poetry.
In the South Sea, there are those that sleep at dawn and droop into the water at night. When there is water in the year, the lotus opens early. Once, Duanbai called this the "pure friend." There are also golden lotus, clematis, white-flowered large yi lotus. The flowers are extremely difficult to open. Originally like banana leaves, also like taro. Also called Kannon taro. Blue lotus, or also called clematis. Jin period's Buddhist monk Fotucheng took a bowl, filled it with water, burned incense and cast a spell on it, and blue lotus grew in the bowl. The light and color of the flowers illuminated people, blooming within the fourth and fifth months.
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【Heading, boxed section】Kodemari (Small Spiraea) 《Flowers in March》【Outside the box】The flower color is white, and the shape resembles a small ball. There are five petals with stamens in the center. The leaf shape is serrated, with leaves attached in a stepped pattern, and flowers emerge from between them. The tree form is like yamabuki (Japanese rose), bending horizontally and spreading. The flowers connect in tiers. Those with reddish-black stems have stiff leaves.
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【Heading, boxed section】Ōtemari (Large Viburnum)
《March-April》
《Fundan is the name of the flower》
【Outside the box】Leaves emerge facing each other on both sides, with a round, large shape having wrinkles, similar to cherry leaves. The tree height is over one jō (about 3 meters), with branches also emerging on both sides and drooping in four directions. At their ends are flowers like balls. The petals are originally uniform, dividing into five. Each flower's shape is like white plum, with flowers clustering together. Sometimes like a ball, with gradations in the flowers, having no receptacle. The flowers start small and grow larger day by day. Initially they open blue, at their peak they are white, with a hole in the center.
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Hydrangea creates flowers extremely densely, clustering together like balls. Hence it is so named. Using hydrangea grafted onto old branches makes it easy to grow.