Citizens take a walk while enjoying lotus flowers at Useupje in Gongsan-myeon, Naju, South Jeolla Province.
NAJU, Aug. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — Long celebrated in Korean culture, the lotus flower has carried layered meanings across history, from scholarly admiration to religious reverence and folk traditions.
Confucian scholars cherished the lotus for its purity, blooming untainted from murky ponds. In Buddhism, it symbolizes spiritual clarity — a flower rising above worldly defilements, representing paradise itself.
In everyday folk culture, the lotus’s abundant seeds made it a sign of fertility. Lotus patterns were often embroidered onto women’s clothing as a wish for many descendants.
Scientifically known as Nelumbo nucifera and native to India, the lotus is a perennial plant with creeping rhizomes that thicken into edible lotus roots by late autumn. Its round, shield-shaped leaves float above the water, while blossoms rise on tall stalks to bloom from July to August.
Both revered for its beauty and woven into daily life, the lotus remains a powerful symbol of purity, prosperity, and resilience in Korean tradition.
Image credit: Yonhap / photonews@koreabizwire.com
