Preface

Lotus flower is distributed widely in China and can be found all over the world. Even on the bank of Amazon in South America far from China， we can see lotus in bloom. Yet it is so lucky for lotus to grow in China because the Chinese people have endowed it with so much goodliness and loftiness for thousands of years.

Lotus reproduces from time immemorial and lasts for a long time. Throughout the ages， poems of eulogizing lotus are innumerable， among which the famous works A Tale of Lotus Lover by Zhou Dunyi has been handed down from generation to generation welcomely.On the beauty of lotus rests the Chinese people’s spiritual pursuit， for its purity implying the noble moralities. So the famous poem says， “I do like lotus that is clean even growing in the muddy pond. It is so pure， delicate and bright. The lotus is consistent， continuous and coherent deep inside. It appears to be straight， proper and honest. It gives a fantastically good smell and people can even sense its excellent smell far away. It has no unnecessary branches. It can be only appreciated distantly but not touched blasphemously.”

With the same pronunciation and the high spirit of lotus， the Chinese character which refers to lotus has the metaphorical meaning of harmony， and the Chinese character which also refers to lotus has the metaphorical meaning of integrity. The whole nation has obtained a common understanding to establish a harmonious society. Truth-seeking and integrity has become the outstanding tone of the society. The beautiful， noble and unsullied lotus has turned out to be the focus of photographers. Thus a lot of photographic works on lotus have come out and lotus has become the important medium of spreading the art of photography and pursuing the noble moral sentiment.

However， it is not easy to show the profound connotation of lotus through photographic images. Lin Xiaoting， member of China Photographers Association， has engaged in education and publicity for a long time， and has been bent on working over the art of photography. He studies photography knowledge seriously in his spare time and devotes himself to photographic creation， especially to taking pictures of lotus. In that case， this photographic collection entitled Style of Lotus can be regarded as a milestone on his photographic way.He not only integrates his perception about lotus with pursuing noble characters， but also connects his sentiments about lotus with the establishment of the harmonious society. With his distinctive angle of view， he perceives， appreciates and praises lotus while showing his love for arts through photography， thereby expresses the orientation of his inner world. That deserves our approval and commendation. In this collection， he classifies his works on lotus by different morals. He endows every works with moral meaning， and endows lotus with thoughts and emotion. It is an instructive experiment and exploration to extract and represent the organic combination between the art of photography and nature & society in his works.

The lofty character of lotus is priceless; the way of pursuing arts is endless. I wish Comrade Lin Xiaoting continues his pursuit， focusing and reflecting the true， the good and the beautiful constantly， and creates more and better photographic works.

Li Qianguang

Member of Party Leadership Group and member of secretariat of Committee of the CPC Central Committee of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Vice-president of China Photographers Association

Beijing

June， 2012