Thursday, November 13, 2008

Chinese Art and Poetry: Christ is the Crocus of Eternal and New Life

Chinese Art and Poetry: Christ is the Crocus of Eternal and New Life

The Chinese use plants: bamboo, plum blossoms, chrysanthemums and the orchid as symbols which speak about life and virtue.

The significance of the plum blossom runs deep in Chinese history - it signifies feminine beauty and the ideal of chosen seclusion and moral rectitude.
The story is told that Meifei had become the favorite concubine of the Emperor. She surrounded herself with plum blossom trees and at blooming time lingered among them into the night. Meifei was retiring, cultivated and compliant. In time, she lost favor with the Emperor to Yang Gifei who was aggressive, vulgar, vindictive and shrewd.

Now Meifei spent her lonely hours writing about plum blossoms, comparing her fleeting happiness to the short life of the plum petals that soon fell to the ground. At her death, she was buried beneath the flowering plums, and so, the plum tree came to symbolize feminine inner beauty of soul.

In the Song Period, the plum became an enduring emblem of the high minded scholar. Li Bu lived a life of modest retirement on Gushan ("Lone Mountain"). He devoted himself to calligraphy, poetry, planting plum trees and raising cranes. Although he was poor, he did not seek fame. He never married and so the people said the flowering plum was his wife and cranes his children and so, the flowering plum became associated with chosen seclusion and moral pre-eminence.
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Also, note that what is sometimes called the Lotus flower is actually the Crocus and in the ancient world a symbol of the Resurrection (not reincarnation). The crocus we refer to here are the ones growing from earth (not swamps like reincarnation lotuses) especially the snow crocus for its early bloom while snow is on the ground. Jesus Christ is the First born of Mary (the blessed virgin who is the Christmas rose of pure white), He is also the First born from the dead in the flesh – the first one resurrected – who will resurrect us. The snow crocus is deep blue just like the traditional color associated with nativity scenes.

"All Wisdom comes from the LORD...
He poured it forth upon all his creatures." (Sir 1:1,8)
Mary is the spikenard (fragrance of incense before the Lord) of whom was the Christ, Who is the Word Wisdom and Power of the Father in the Unity and Power and Bond of love of the Holy Spirit, may the Holy God especially by the prayer of Mary bless you.

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