Birthday poem · May 18Start of Summer, the 7th solar term: summer begins.
Birth character
笛 dí · flute
笛 combines 竹 "bamboo" with a sound element; it is a bamboo flute.
短笛無腔信口吹
“Playing a short flute, no tune, just what comes out.” — Lei Zhen, ‘Village Evening’
Other dates with this poem: July 26
The poem
“Village Evening” 村晚
- 草滿池塘水滿陂Grass fills the pond, water fills the bank;
- 山銜落日浸寒漪the hills hold the setting sun, dipping in cold ripples.
- 牧童歸去橫牛背The cowherd goes home, lying sideways on the ox's back,
- 短笛無腔信口吹playing a short flute, no tune, just what comes out.
Why this poem
Lei Zhen on a herd boy at dusk, sitting sideways on an ox and playing a flute.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Start of Summer.