From scientific fact to Chinese scholar idealism. Let’s explore the lotus, the flower that refuses to get dirty.

This summer marks Lan Su Chinese Garden’s very first Lotus Festival. People have been asking us, “Why the lotus?“

The answer begins with something that surprises many visitors: Did you know Lan Su is the only public garden in the Pacific Northwest where you can experience live lotus blooms?

I know! I didn’t know that either! As someone who grew up in Taiwan, you might think I spent every summer surrounded by lotus flowers. The funny thing is, I didn’t. Before I joined Lan Su, I actually saw very few lotus blooms in person. They appeared everywhere in Chinese culture, in paintings, poems, calligraphy, temple ponds, and stories, but not often in my everyday life. It wasn’t until I visited Suzhou as a teenager that I remember standing before a lake covered in lotus blossoms. In that moment, I finally understood why generations of artists, poets, and scholars had fallen in love with this remarkable flower.

That’s because lotus are treasured across East and Southeast Asia, yet they’re also surprisingly uncommon to encounter in full bloom. They require very specific growing conditions, warm summers, and a great deal of patience. Even for many people who grew up in Asia, seeing a thriving lotus pond is a special experience.

That’s what makes Lan Su so unique. Today, we have more than 100 lotus flourishing in Lake Zither and in large containers throughout the garden. Sharing these blooms isn’t simply about displaying beautiful flowers. It’s about bringing to life a cultural icon that many people have heard about, read about, or admired in artwork, but may have never experienced in person.

The lotus also has a remarkable scientific secret. Its leaves somehow stay perfectly clean even while growing from muddy water. Water forms tiny droplets that roll across the leaf, carrying away dirt and dust. Scientists now call this the “lotus effect,” and it has inspired innovations ranging from self-cleaning paint to water-repellent materials.

The scholars of ancient China noticed exactly the same phenomenon. But instead of asking how it worked, they asked what it could teach us. (I guess that summarizes the difference between Chinese v.s. Western thinkers.)

Nearly 1,000 years ago, the Song dynasty scholar and philosopher Zhou Dunyi (周敦頤) wrote one of China’s most celebrated essays, On the Love of the Lotus (《愛蓮說》). Rather than praising the flower simply for its beauty, he admired it because, in his words,

「予獨愛蓮之出淤泥而不染，濯清漣而不妖。」
Which means “I alone love the lotus because it rises from the mud unstained, washed by clear water yet never showy.“

To Zhou Dunyi, the lotus represented the ideal person, someone who could live in a complicated world without sacrificing integrity.

Since then, generations of Chinese scholars have admired the lotus. Generations of Chinese students, myself included, have also had to suffer… I mean, appreciate…

memorizing and reciting On the Love of the Lotus in high school Chinese class.
The lotus became a symbol of honesty, humility, resilience, and moral courage. It reminded scholars and public officials to remain true to their principles, even while navigating the muddy waters of public life. Those scholars are long gone, but their ideas continue to bloom every summer.

That’s why we created the Lotus Festival.

Not simply to celebrate a beautiful flower, but to celebrate the stories, philosophy, science, and cultural traditions that have grown alongside it for centuries. We hope that as you stroll through the garden, admire the blossoms, attend a lotus ceramic workshop, come check out the Lotus Market, or simply pause beside Lake Zither, you’ll discover that the lotus has always been much more than a flower.

Our lotus collection is expected to reach peak bloom over the next two weeks. We invite you to experience these remarkable blossoms for yourself, and perhaps leave with a deeper appreciation for the stories that have been blooming alongside them for nearly a thousand years.

See you among the lotus blossoms!