In Ailian, Chrysanthemum is described as a hermit.
First of all, Zhou Dunyi is not a writer.
So why did Zhou Dunyi write such an article "On Ailian"? Why did he use lotus as a metaphor? What is the difference between using lotus as a metaphor and the previous "Bide" technique? This is what we should pay special attention to when reading this article.
Generally speaking, taking bamboo as an example, the character of a gentleman is compared with "straight and restrained"; Pine and cypress use its "evergreen" characteristics, especially in winter, "not afraid of frost and snow", which is more direct; When the lotus flower is used to describe a gentleman, it has another meaning, that is, "the mud comes out without dyeing", and this extra layer increases the relationship between man and the environment.
Although the surrounding environment is poor, the environment in which you live or grew up is not very good, your own personality can be completely different, and you can be noble. So this is a feature of Ailian's Theory.
Of course, his writing style is very good, and he expresses the posture of lotus flower in beautiful language, which also makes his ideas, statements and opinions well accepted by everyone. Then there is a problem. Why does Zhou Dunyi think of such a lotus flower as a metaphor of a gentleman's personality, so as to show that the relationship between man and the environment is "out of the mud but not stained"? This may have a specific historical background.
Zhou Dunyi is the founder of Neo-Confucianism. The so-called "new Confucianism" is a combination of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, which eventually forms a new school of thought. Then there are many Buddhist factors in Zhou Dunyi's thought, so there was a saying at that time, called "Zhou Maoshu, poor Zen" and "Zen", which means that there are Buddhist factors in his thought.