Birthday poem · April 17Clear and Bright, the 5th solar term: the weather warms and plants turn green.
Birth character
晴 qíng · clear sky
晴 combines 日 "sun" with 青 as a sound element; it means the sky clearing after rain.
晴空一鶴排雲上
“On a fine day a crane cleaves the clouds and soars high” — Liu Yuxi, ‘Autumn Song’
The poem
“Drinking at West Lake: First Sun, Then Rain” 飲湖上初晴後雨
- 水光瀲灩晴方好shuǐ guāng liàn yàn qíng fāng hǎoThe brimming waves delight the eye on sunny days;
- 山色空濛雨亦奇shān sè kōng méng yǔ yì qíThe dimming hills give a rare view in rainy haze.
- 欲把西湖比西子yù bǎ xī hú bǐ xī zǐWest Lake may be compared to Lady of the West;
- 淡妝濃抹總相宜dàn zhuāng nóng mǒ zǒng xiāng yíWhether she is richly adorned or plainly dressed.
Why this poem
Su Shi: West Lake suits both sun and rain, like the beauty Xi Shi.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Clear and Bright.