Birthday poem · November 18Start of Winter, the 19th solar term: winter begins.
Birth character
香 xiāng · fragrance
香 combines grain with 甘 "sweet"; it first meant the smell of grain, then fragrance.
暗香浮動月黃昏
“A hidden fragrance drifts in the moonlit dusk.” — Lin Bu, ‘Little Plum in the Mountain Garden’
Other dates with this poem: September 14
The poem
“Written as a Traveler” 客中作
- 蘭陵美酒鬱金香lán líng měi jiǔ yù jīn xiāngThe fine wine of Lanling smells of turmeric;
- 玉碗盛來琥珀光yù wǎn chéng lái hǔ pò guāngIn a jade bowl it glows like amber.
- 但使主人能醉客dàn shǐ zhǔ rén néng zuì kèIf only my host can make his guest drunk,
- 不知何處是他鄕bù zhī hé chù shì tā xiāngI will not know which land is strange to me.
Why this poem
Li Bai, far from home, drinks Lanling wine and forgets he is a stranger there.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Start of Winter.