Birthday poem · August 9Start of Autumn, the 13th solar term: autumn begins in the traditional calendar.
Birth character
紅 hóng · red
紅 combines 糸 "silk" with 工 as a sound element; it first meant pink silk, then red.
霜葉紅於二月花
“Frost-bitten leaves look redder than early spring flowers.” — Du Mu, ‘Mountain Walk’
Other dates with this poem: October 12
The poem
“Evening Song by the River” 暮江吟
- 一道殘陽鋪水中One streak of setting sun spreads across the water:
- 半江瑟瑟半江紅half the river jade-green, half the river red.
- 可憐九月初三夜How lovely, this night, the third of the ninth month —
- 露似眞珠月似弓dew like true pearls, the moon like a bow.
Why this poem
Sunset on the river, a new moon and dew on the third night of the ninth month.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Start of Autumn.