Data collection of lotus cultural charm

The scientific name of lotus is (Lotus), which belongs to the genus Nelumbo of Nymphaeaceae.

Lotus alias: whip tip, lotus, lotus, water hibiscus, water, cloud water, Shuidan, Huashui, Xike, Yuhuan, Hanhan, Qinglian, June Spring, Bihuan, etc.

Lotus root It is one of the earliest species of angiosperms. According to the fossils studied by paleobotanists, lotus plants were distributed in many waters in the northern hemisphere10.35 billion years ago. At that time, it was in the late stage of the rapid decline of the giant reptile dinosaur, and its growth time on the earth was much earlier than the appearance of human ancestors (2 million years ago). According to Paleobotany (1965) by A.H. Christophevich of the former Soviet Union, lotus fossils have been found in Cretaceous strata in the Arctic of North America and amur river Basin of Asia (i.e. Heilongjiang), as well as Oligocene and Miocene strata in Europe and East Asia (Sakhalin Island) and Japan. At that time, the temperature on the earth was warmer than it is now. There were about 10~ 12 species of lotus plants distributed in five continents.

lotus

Cloth. With the advent of the post-glacial period, the global temperature dropped, making many plants extinct, while others were forced to drift away, completely breaking the original geographical distribution. Because of this disaster, two varieties of lotus survived, and their distribution range narrowed. Chinese lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) is distributed in Asia and northern Oceania, and N.lutea drifts to North America. Paleobotanists also pointed out that the lotus fossils from Pleistocene to Holocene (2 million years ago) excavated in Hokkaido and Kyoto are similar to modern China lotus; The lotus leaf fossils unearthed in Qaidam Basin, China, 6.5438+million years ago are similar to modern China lotus. In 1970s, China Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development Planning, Ministry of Petrochemical Industry and Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences recorded in the book "Early Tertiary Sporopollen in Coastal Areas of Bohai Sea" that two kinds of lotus pollen fossils were found in Panshan, Liaoning, Beidagang, Tianjin, Kenli, Guangrao, Shandong and Cangzhou, Hebei. Fossils of the genus Nelumbo were also found in the strata of Changchang Basin in Qiongshan, Hainan Island, China, in the Tertiary tropical phytogeographical region. At present, the original wild lotus is still distributed in lakes and swamps in Fuyuan, Hulin, Tongjiang and Shangzhi counties of Heilongjiang Province. The above shows that lotus is an ancient plant before the Ice Age, which belongs to the representative of relict plant, such as Paeonia suffruticosa, Ginkgo biloba, Liriodendron chinense in China, Sequoia sempervirens and so on. , not swallowed by the glaciers of the ice age and survived.

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Mystery of waterproof and self-cleaning of lotus leaf

white lotus

The reason why lotus leaves are "muddy but not dirty" is that countless micron-sized waxy papillae structures are attached to the surface of lotus leaves. When observing these papillae with electron microscope, we can see that many nanoparticles with similar structures are attached to the surface of each micron-sized papillae, which scientists call the micro-nano dual structure of lotus leaf. It is these tiny double structures that make the contact area between the lotus leaf surface and water drops or dust very limited, so there is a phenomenon that water drops roll on the leaf surface and take away dust, so there is no water left on the lotus leaf surface.

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Scientific explanation of breaking the fast knot

lotus root

When it comes to lotus, it is natural to mention lotus root. Holland belongs to Nymphaeaceae, a perennial herb planted in shallow ponds. Its stem was born in the mud and transformed into rhizome, that is, lotus root, also called lotus root. Lotus root grows horizontally in silt and absorbs nutrients by fibrous roots on the base stem. Lotus root has been a favorite food since ancient times, because its meat is crisp and tender, slightly sweet, contains a lot of starch and is rich in nutrition.

When we break the lotus root, we can observe that countless long white lotus roots are connected between the broken lotus roots. Why is this happening?

It is necessary to observe the structure of lotus root. It turns out that the tissues needed for plants to grow and transport water and nutrients are called ducts and tracheids. These tissues extend in all directions in plants and are as unimpeded as blood vessels in animals in leaves, stems, flowers, fruits and other organs.

The inner wall of the plant vessel will be particularly thickened at a certain position, forming various textures, some are annular, some are trapezoidal and some are reticulate. The thickened part of the lotus root catheter wall is continuous spiral, which is called spiral catheter. When the lotus root breaks, the spiral part of the inner wall of the catheter is separated and becomes a spiral filament with a diameter of only 3 ~ 5 microns. These filaments are much like stretched springs and will not break within the elastic limit. Generally, it can be stretched to about 10 cm.

Lotus root silk not only exists in lotus root, but also exists in lotus stem and lotus leaf, but is thinner. If you pick a lotus stalk, try to break it into several pieces and lift it like a long string of small green lanterns. It is this filament that connects these little green lanterns. This kind of filament looks very similar. If you look at it under a microscope, you will find that it is actually composed of 3 ~ 8 thinner filaments, just like a cotton yarn is composed of countless cotton fibers.

The delicate and lingering lotus root silk has long attracted the attention of the ancients. There is a sentence in Qufu, a poem written by Meng Jiao in the Tang Dynasty: "My heart is in the lotus root, although it is broken, it is still connected". Later, people used the idiom "broken silk" to describe that although the relationship was broken, the relationship was still connected.

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The Mystery of Germination of Millennium Ancient Lotus

Ms. Shen is a botanist at UCLA. She cultivates all kinds of plants in the laboratory, but she cherishes two ancient lotus trees most-they are both about 500 years old.

lotus

"Ordinary flowers can only live for a few years." Ms. Shen said: "These two ancient lotus trees are very different. Their seeds have been baptized for hundreds of years and now they have sprouted and blossomed. "

Gulian, who has been sleeping for thousands of years, woke up.

A few years ago, Ms. Shen visited the China Institute of Botany in Beijing. When she returned to America, her colleague in Beijing gave her seven lotus seeds. "It is said that these seeds were excavated from lake sediments in the northeast. I know they are very old, but I don't know the exact number. " Ms. Shen said, "I didn't pay enough attention to them at that time, but my lab colleague John Sassen found their value."

John Sassen identified the age of ancient lotus seeds with a carbon isotope tester and found that they were actually left over from 1200 years ago! What is even more surprising is that when Ms. Shen cut off the seed shell with a blade and soaked it in the culture solution, it didn't take long to germinate!

Unfortunately, these seeds have a short survival time after germination, but they have been listed as the oldest seeds that can germinate in the world.

Can the seeds of the Millennium germinate? ! This aroused Ms. Shen's great interest, and she decided to go back to China again to find these mysterious lives. At that time, Ms. Shen was already a well-known scholar in the field of international botany, and many scientists were willing to help her complete this research work.

The road to science is not smooth.

The second batch of ancient lotus seeds that Ms. Shen brought to the United States has 2 1 grain, all of which are 200-500 years old. During 1997, Ms. Shen studied lotus cultivation techniques in Germany. Through "minor surgery", the first seed germinated, but only survived for less than three months.

"In the next three years, I cultivated three other seeds at the California Institute of Botany, but they didn't bloom-obviously, I used the wrong method." Ms. Shen recalled the past and said: "These two seeds have blossomed, which seems to be very lucky. These are the two trees you see now, one is 408 years old and the other is 466 years old. "

Although the ancient lotus has blossomed, it is different from the modern lotus and cannot fully adapt to the modern environment. "I am doing my best to make them thrive."

According to Ms. Shen, there should be a special reason why lotus can live so long; If we can find the internal mechanism of lotus longevity, human beings will benefit a lot, such as solving the problem of grain storage, reducing the hungry people in the world and possibly prolonging human life.

The key question is: What is the secret of longevity of lotus? Ms. Shen said that it may be related to the radiation of the soil.

Gaiman harbert is a chemist. He works with Ms. Shen. Harbert found that the soil around the seeds of ancient lotus gave off slight radiation. "Although the radiation intensity is very low, the effect after hundreds of years is still quite amazing." Ms. Shen explained, "This may be the reason why ancient lotus seeds can survive to this day."

It is reported that Ms. Shen still has 15 seeds left, which she intends to provide to other scientists so that the research project can be carried out on a global scale. "Lotus comes out of the mud and is not polluted, so it represents a special meaning in Buddhism." Ms. Shen said, "Now we should find out the secret of lotus's longevity and benefit all mankind."

How does the ancient lotus that has been sleeping underground for thousands of years bloom?

This is related to the structure of lotus seeds. The outer seed coat of lotus seeds is hard and dense, like a small "sealed bag". Sealing the seeds inside can prevent the infiltration of external moisture and air and prevent the loss of moisture and air inside the seeds, so the life activity of lotus seeds is extremely weak, which is equivalent to being in a dormant state. This is an important reason why ancient lotus seeds still have vitality.

In addition, it is also related to the burial environment of ancient lotus seeds. These ancient lotus seeds are buried in a peat layer about 30-60 cm deep, and the peat has good water absorption and moisture resistance; In addition, the peat layer is covered with thick soil, so the ancient lotus seeds are almost in a closed environment. In such an environment, ancient lotus seeds do not have the conditions to take root and sprout, so they can preserve their vitality.

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Scientific and technological invention of lotus

lotus leaf

Since 1970s, William Barttelot, director of the Institute of Botany, Bonn University, Germany, and his team have studied the surface structure of more than 10,000 kinds of plants through electron microscope. This study finally revealed an interesting phenomenon: pour a few drops of glue on the lotus leaf, and the glue will not stick to the leaf, but will roll down without leaving a trace. The leaves are covered with a thin layer of wax crystals, which is clean, which is the characteristic of waterproof leaves. This phenomenon aroused Barttelot's curiosity and put forward the hypothesis that there is a causal relationship between water resistance and pollution resistance. After hard work, he invented a new technology to produce materials with completely waterproof surface and self-cleaning function. This is a new technology with a wide range of uses, which makes people no longer worry about the cleanliness of the top and surface of buildings, nor about the cleanliness of cars, planes and various means of transportation.

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Lotus cultivation

lotus

Bowl lotus requires pond mud or paddy mud rich in humus as cultivation soil, and industrial polluted soil cannot be used. The viscosity of yellow mud is high, and the dosage should be appropriate. Too sticky will affect the elongation of lotus root whip and the expansion of lotus root. Sandy soil is loose and not sticky enough, which is easy to be damaged by the wind and hinders the growth of roots. Generally, it is appropriate to mix yellow mud and sandy soil in a ratio of 7: 3. If there is no sand, you can add yellow sand, but the proportion is slightly smaller. In the suburbs of the city, the garden soil of vegetable fields can be directly selected; In cities, you can also use pot-changing overnight soil with flowers in spring and half yellow mud as cultivation soil.

20 grams of decomposed dry chicken manure or other fertilizers are used in each pot, which is fully mixed with the pot soil as the base fertilizer. Remove impurities and stones from the pot, remove bugs and earthworms from the soil, and then put them into the pot. The soil layer generally accounts for about 3/5 of the whole basin volume.

The Zhao Jiarong experiment of Wuhan Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences showed that the formula of dried pond mud 100, bean cake water 2, plant ash water 6, pig's trotters water 2, rotten wool water 2 and bone meal 1 can achieve good results.

Cultivation container

At present, many varieties of lotus plants are still too high, and only a few varieties of vegetable bowls and soup bowls can be planted on the market. At present, there is no flowerpot specially designed for growing the bowl lily in the market, and the common plain spark pots (i.e. clay pots and earth pots) are easy to seep, so they are not suitable for being used as bowl lily cultivation containers. Glazed pots, porcelain pots and purple sand pots are not easy to seep, so they can be used as pots for cultivating lotus. However, this kind of basin generally has a bottom hole, which can be blocked with cement and sand or rubber gasket when choosing. The shape and color of the flowerpot should be coordinated with the bowl lotus to make it seamless. You can choose square and round pots. The flowerpot is about 20 cm in diameter and about 15 cm in depth. For the first time, the gardener can enlarge it appropriately, so it is easy to bloom.

Cultivation site

Receiving 7-8 hours of light every day can promote more buds and continuous flowering. Bowl lilies should not be kept in the shade, nor should they be cultivated indoors like indoor foliage plants. Insufficient light, lotus leaves are white and long, turn green, and can't get pregnant. When cultivating bowl lilies in the courtyard, flowerpots must be placed on the outer edge of sunny balcony or face south. During the flowering period, if you need to watch it indoors, you can take early entry and late exit, or late entry and early exit, and keep a certain amount of light every day. Bowl lotus needs plenty of light, but it should not be sunny after rain.

Bowl lotus is an aquatic flower, which needs a lot of water during its growth, but it is afraid that its leaves will sink in heavy water, so the site should be convenient for water intake and drainage. Bowl lotus is afraid of strong wind, and the venue is leeward as far as possible.

Culture temperature

Bowl lotus is a warm-loving plant and has strict requirements on temperature. Generally, it begins to germinate at 8- 10℃, and the lotus root whip begins to elongate at 14℃. When sowing early, the temperature should be above 65438 05℃, otherwise the slow growth of seedlings will cause rotten seedlings in the downstream area. Before mid-April, sowing in the open field is generally not used, mainly because the temperature can not meet the needs of seed germination and seedling growth. With the increase of temperature, continuous scorching sun and high temperature (above 40℃) are also not conducive to the growth and development of bowl lotus. 22-35℃ is the most suitable temperature for the growth and development of water lily. When the temperature is 18-2 1℃, the leaves begin to germinate, and it takes more than 22℃ to blossom and more than 25℃ to grow new lotus roots. At this time, we need a climate with the same daily temperature and a slightly lower night temperature. Before and after autumn, the temperature dropped, and most cultivated varieties turned to the long lotus root stage, indicating that the soil in the basin increased obviously.

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Lotus and Buddhism

Walking into the Buddhist temple, you can see the image of lotus everywhere. Buddha Sakyamuni sits on the lotus throne in Daxiong Hall, with kind eyes and drooping lotus eyes. Amitabha, the head of the "Three Sages of the West", and Avalokitesvara, the compassionate bodhisattva, also sat on the lotus. Some of the other bodhisattvas hold lotus flowers, some step on them, or make lotus gestures, or throw lotus flowers (such as heavenly daughters) to the world. Temple walls, algae wells, railings, sacred tents, tables, sachets and worship mats are also carved, painted or sewn with various lotus patterns everywhere. It can be seen how close the relationship between lotus and Buddhism is.

The close relationship between lotus and Buddhism is also manifested in the metaphor of many beautiful and sacred things in Buddhism, represented by lotus. In Buddhist stories, the mother of Buddha Sakyamuni has a pair of lotus-like beautiful and clear eyes. When the Buddha was born, there were eight auspicious signs in the palace. The most important one was that Bai Lianhua suddenly grew as big as a wheel in the pool. When the Buddha was born, thousands of golden lights were emitted from the root of his tongue, and each golden light turned into a white lotus in Chiba. In every lotus flower, there is a little bodhisattva cross-legged.

There are countless Buddhist sayings that use lotus as a metaphor. Buddha is called "Lotus" or "Lotus"; Stumbling posture, that is, the posture with legs crossed, feet on opposite thighs and feet up, is called lotus sitting posture; The western paradise advocated by Buddhism is likened to the realm of pure lotus, so it is called "Lianbang"; The Buddhist scene described in Amitabha Sutra is: "There are seven treasure pools in Elysium, Ba Ding Shui ... the lotus in the pool is as big as a wheel." Therefore, it is called "the country of lotus"; Buddhist temples are called "Lotus Temple". "brake" is Sanskrit, that is, the pure land of the west, and lotus is entrusted by previous lives, so it is called "lotus brake"; People who recite Buddhism are called "lotus fetuses", that is, they live in lotus, as in their mother's womb; The Buddha's eye is called "lotus eye", and utpala is used to compare the beauty of the Buddha's eye; The lotus with eight leaves on the chest is called "Lotus Palace", which is the lotus-like realm in the heart; Sakyamuni's hand is called "Lotus Hand"; Monks and nuns are called "Lotus Ring"; Monks and nuns' robes are called "lotus clothes", which means clean and free from impurities; The wonderful observation wisdom among the five intelligences is called "lotus wisdom"; Call people who are good at saying things "lotus on the tip of the tongue"; It is said that it is asceticism and joy is "returning to the house to have a lotus"; The Buddhist sutra "The Lotus Sutra" is called "Hokkekyo" for short, which is a metaphor of lotus and symbolizes the purity and elegance of teachings. The earliest Buddhist association in China, founded by Hui Yuan of Tuolin Temple in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, is called "Lotus Society". The pure land Sect of Buddhism advocates reaching the pure land of lotus in the west through practice, so it is also called "Lotus Sect". In a word, lotus has an indissoluble bond with Buddhism, and many places are represented by lotus. It can be said that lotus is Buddha and Buddha is lotus.

Why does Buddhism admire lotus so much? There are two main reasons for this: first, Buddhism originated in India, where the climate is hot. Lotus flowers bloom in summer, bringing people cool and beautiful enjoyment. People naturally like this beautiful flower blooming in the hot summer, so in Indian literature, especially in folk literature, lotus is a symbol of beauty, kindness, holiness and tolerance. There are many such stories, which have far-reaching influence. For example, the story of Prince Lotus compares a good national flower with noble character, kindness and integrity, and abiding by the ten laws of kings (giving, observing precepts, generosity, integrity, kindness, self-control, avoiding anger, killing, tolerance and generosity) to lotus. The story of "The King of the Netherlands" tells that in order to save the people from famine, the king of the Netherlands jumped into the Ganges and became a big red fish, asking the people to cut off his meat and eat it. After his flesh was cut off, he was born again. This lasted for twelve years, and he used his own meat to feed the people of the whole country and spent twelve years of famine. The story of "Mrs. Deer Mother Lotus" says that every step taken by Mrs. Deer Mother Lotus immediately reveals a beautiful lotus flower under her feet. She gave birth to 500 boys in one breath, all handsome Hercules and heroes who defended the country. Therefore, Mrs. Deer Mother Lotus became a symbol of having more beautiful boy.

Sakyamuni founded Buddhism and advocated the abolition of the hierarchical system in ancient India and the implementation of caste equality, compassion and universal life. In order to promote Buddhism and make the broad masses understand and accept Buddhist teachings, they preach by speaking. It caters to the people's love for lotus and compares lotus to Buddha, which makes Buddhism spread rapidly and has a wide range of believers.

On the other hand, the main reason why Buddhism refers to the Buddha as lotus is that the character and characteristics of lotus are consistent with Buddhist teachings. Buddhism is a religion that focuses on seeking to get rid of the suffering of life. It regards life as an ocean of suffering and hopes that people can get rid of it. The way to get rid of it is: this shore (the bitter sea of life)-crossing (learning Buddhism)-the other shore (the pure land of bliss). That is, from the secular to the clean world, from evil to perfection, from vulgarity to Buddhism. This is the same as lotus grows in muddy water and is extraordinary, not contaminated by sludge, and finally produces extremely delicious flowers.

One of the important tenets of Buddhism is to love giving widely. Be merciful to all beings. The so-called compassion refers to the hope and help others get rid of suffering and get happiness. Kindness is to hope others are happy, and kindness is to help others be happy; Compassion is to hope that others will relieve their pain, and compassion is to help others relieve their pain. Buddhism requires compassion for all living people, whether good or evil, whether human or animal. We should forgive all kinds of evil deeds, help them with compassion, influence them to be good, become good people and bear good results. But it is forbidden to go with the flow, stay in a dirty world without being polluted by it, and keep yourself clean and pure. The best way to express this idea is lotus.

Lotus peanuts are in the mud, just like living in a world of mud and dust. It is natural to get along with filth and be disturbed by many evil and filthy things. Buddhism calls these evil forces "demons". Buddhism requires people not to be disturbed and influenced by the evil and filth in the world (that is, demons). Lotus "emerges from the mud without dyeing" and produces beautiful flowers, which is indeed the best symbol. Therefore, lotus plumule and Buddha nature are often compared in Buddhist scriptures. "On Great Wisdom Explain the First Lotus" says: "Lotus, for example, comes from sludge. Although its color is fresh and good, its source is unclean. " "From Chapter 42" says: "I am a Samana, and I am in a troubled world. I want to be like a lotus without being polluted. " So the Brahma King who saved the world was born sitting on the golden lotus in Chiba. Sakyamuni Buddha, Amitabha Buddha and Guanyin Bodhisattva all sit on the lotus, or hold the lotus in their hands, indicating that the Buddha came from the world, pure and flawless.

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Lotus and literature