Birthday poem · December 27Winter Solstice, the 22nd solar term: the longest night of the year.
Birth character
天 tiān · sky, heaven
In its oldest form, 天 is a person with a large head; it came to mean the sky.
疑是銀河落九天
“As if the Silver River fell from azure sky.” — Li Bai, ‘Viewing the Waterfall at Mount Lu’
Other dates with this poem: October 26
The poem
“In the Mountains” 山中
- 荊溪白石出At Jing Stream white stones show through;
- 天寒紅葉稀the weather is cold, red leaves grow few.
- 山路元無雨On the mountain path there was no rain at all,
- 空翠濕人衣yet the empty green dampens your clothes.
Why this poem
Wang Wei in the hills in early winter: few red leaves left, the green damp on his clothes.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Winter Solstice.