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         饒宗頤教授晚年的繪畫創作，荷花可說是最重要的一個主題。饒教授說，他喜歡寫荷花，是因為荷花代表著「負荷」及「擔當」的精神。他認為，近代的中國知識分子應該擔當著繼續發展以及推進中國傳統文化的責任。故此，他的荷花創作皆繪寫著荷花蓬勃茂盛及生生不息的精神。

         「饒宗頤教授荷花系列展」選取饒教授各式各樣的荷花作品，包括他寫的金石荷花、荷花成扇、紈扇、荷譜、敦煌荷花等等。這系列的展覽將成為二零二零年十月到二零二一年上半年的主要展覽活動。我們希望透過這個展覽，除了讓喜好藝術者得以見到饒教授如何把荷花發展為中國花鳥畫的一個重要題材，也可以見到饒教授如何使用各種材料及技法，把中國繪畫推展成世界性繪畫的一個重要部分。

         這個系列展覽，開始於中秋之後，故借用了五四年代作家朱自清一篇有名散文的題目，命名為「荷塘月色」。

Foreword

       In Professor Jao Tsung-i’s later years, “lotus” was the most significant topic in his paintings. Professor Jao said that he liked to paint lotus flowers as they represented the spirit of “bearing” and “shouldering responsibility.” He believed that the development and advancement of traditional Chinese culture should be the responsibility of modern Chinese intellectuals. Therefore, all his lotus paintings depict the spirit of prosperity and vitality.

       The exhibition series features a wide variety of artworks with the topic of lotus flowers by Professor Jao, including epigraphic lotuses, lotus on folding fans, lotus on circular fans, lotus albums, lotus paintings in Dunhuang style, and so on. Through this series, we hope that not only will art lovers be able to see how Professor Jao developed the subject of lotus as an important topic in Chinese bird-and-flower paintings, but also how he used a variety of materials and techniques to promote Chinese paintings and made it an essential part in the art field of the world.

       This series of exhibitions began after the Mid-Autumn Festival, and they are thus entitled Moonlight over the Lotus Pond by using the title of the famous prose by Zhu Ziqing during the era of the May Fourth Movement.

「荷塘月色」系列展覽（二）：摺扇

       荷塘月色系列展覽的第二個主題是饒宗頤教授的荷花摺扇。

       把荷花畫在摺扇上，現今可以見到最早的作品應該是在明代，尤其是晚明諸家如陳老蓮、傅青主、石濤、八大山人等，都有這一類的作品。到了晚清，金石畫家如吳昌碩、蒲華等，更寫過不少荷花摺扇。饒教授寫荷花摺扇也極多，他是第一個開始用金銀寫荷花在摺扇上的畫家，可謂別開生面。

Exhibition Series of Lotus Paintings by Professor Jao Tsung-i (II): Folding Fans

       The second theme of the exhibition series is Professor Jao Tsung-i’s lotus flowers on folding fans.

       Painting lotus on folding fans dates back to the Ming dynasty. In the late Ming period, Chen Hongshou, Fu Shan, Monk Shitao, and Bada Shanren produced such works. Until the late Qing dynasty, Epigraphic artists, including Wu Changshuo and Pu Hua, created quite a number of lotus paintings on folding fans. Professor Jao also produced a significant quantity of lotus fan paintings, and he was the first painter who used gold and silver color for depicting lotus flowers and leaves, breaking a new path for this form of artwork.