Birthday poem · November 3Frost’s Descent, the 18th solar term: the first frosts.
Birth character
光 guāng · light
In its oldest form, 光 shows fire above a kneeling person; it means light.
床前明月光
“Before my bed a pool of light” — Li Bai, ‘Quiet Night Thoughts’
Other dates with this poem: January 10
The poem
“Thoughts on Reading” 觀書有感
- 半畝方塘一鑑開bàn mǔ fāng táng yī jiàn kāiA square pond of half an acre opens like a glass;
- 天光雲影共徘徊tiān guāng yún yǐng gòng pái huáiSky-light and cloud-shadows together pass.
- 問渠那得清如許wèn qú nǎ dé qīng rú xǔI ask how it can stay so clear and clean—
- 爲有源頭活水來wèi yǒu yuán tóu huó shuǐ láiBecause fresh water flows in from the source unseen.
Why this poem
Zhu Xi compares the mind to a square pond fed by running water.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Frost’s Descent.