A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, especially if it's also a lotus. Lian has many names for such a small person.The name given her at her SWI is Han Lian, Han being the family name and Lian her personal name. We are using Lian for her first name (pronounced like Ian with an "L" in front, Li - un, not Lee Anne.) Her name will be Lian Elizabeth Rose.
She is also called Naomi by the christian workers from Caring for China in her special needs unit. Naomi means pleasant or agreeable in Hebrew. Naomi is Ruth's mother in law in the Old Testament Book of Ruth. (Lots of red threads - both my Grandmothers were named Ruth.)
Han is from the city where she lives, and also refers to the majority ethnic group, whose ancient empire was centered in Shaanxi.
Lian means Lotus. The lotus is considered sacred in many ancient cultures. (I stole the below wholesale from a lovely site about Chinese paintings)
The Chinese have always loved Chinese lotus flower paintings. These flowers are thought of as being like a gentle person, who keeps themselves clean, alive and healthy in a dirty environment. Essentially the Chinese lotus flower represents creative power and purity amid adverse surroundings. It is also a symbol of the seventh month, summer. In China, there are many poems about the lotus flower, often describing how they come out of the dirty mud under the water and yet retain their pureness, freshness and beauty.
An Old Chinese Poem:
"The leaves break the bandage of the green stem,
stretch themselves and form a green pool with untidy edges.
Now the flower comes from out of the vast surface of the water,
just like a very beautiful woman coming gracefully from her bath."
Chinese poets also use lotus flowers to inspire people to continue striving through difficulties and to show their best part to the outside world, no matter how bad the circumstances may be. This is understood as being just like the lotus flower, bringing beauty and light from the murky darkness at the bottom of the pond. Another symbolic characteristic of the Chinese lotus flower leads from the observation that the plant's stalk is easy to bend in two, but is very hard to break because of its many strong sinuous fibres. Poets use this to represent a close unbreakable relationship between two lovers or the members within a family, showing that no matter how far away they might live nothing can really separate them in heart. In Buddhism the lotus flower symbolizes faithfulness. The golden lotus that is mentioned in Buddhist sutras has two meanings, one is the symbol for the achievement of enlightenment and the other points towards a real flower which is beyond our normal perception.The influence of a lotus flower in Chinese paintings is to open us up to beauty and light. A good Chinese lotus flower painting can act as a reminder of the miracle of beauty, light and life. This reminder, communicated on an emotional level, is said to aid both spiritual and practical understanding of Tao, the world and our place in it.
Her English names have lovely meanings too.
Elizabeth is her Great-Grandma Wilson's middle name and Aunt Gillian's too. It means God's promise. Elizabeth was the mother of John the Baptist.
Rose is Grandma Pines maiden name. It means a beautiful fragrant flower, and is the symbol of Mary, mother of Jesus. When used as a last name in Scotland is also means a valley or dale.
There is even a St. Elizabeth Rose, who lived around 1130, and was a Benedictine abbess, the foundress of the convent of Sainte-Marie-du-Rozoy, near Courtenay, Loiret, France. Her Feastday is December13.
Her list name at our agency was Marci, which derives from Marcellus, or belonging to Mars - warlike - not keeping that one.
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