水陆草木之花，可爱者甚蕃。晋陶渊明独爱菊。自李唐来，世人甚爱牡丹。予独爱莲之出淤泥而不染，濯清涟而不妖，中通外直，不蔓不枝，香远益清，亭亭净植，可远观而不可亵玩焉。(甚爱 一作：盛爱)
予谓菊，花之隐逸者也；牡丹，花之富贵者也；莲，花之君子者也。噫！菊之爱，陶后鲜有闻。莲之爱，同予者何人?牡丹之爱，宜乎众矣!
Water, and all kinds of flowers and trees on land are worth a lot of love. Tao Yuanming in the Jin Dynasty loved chrysanthemum alone. Since the Tang Dynasty, people in the world have been very fond of peony. I only love lotus, it grows out of the silt, but is not contaminated by the silt. It is washed in clean water but does not appear to be shimming. Its stems are through, the shape is straight, no branches, no branches, long scent, more scent, upright and clean there, can be viewed from a distance but can not play it.
I think chrysanthemums are hermits in flowers; peony is the riches of flowers; lotus is the gentleman in flowers. Alas! Love for chrysanthemums was seldom heard after Tao Yuanming. Who do I love the lotus flower? Of course, there are a lot of people for the peony.
