Birthday poem · July 22Major Heat, the 12th solar term: the hottest time of the year.
Birth character
日 rì · sun
日 is a picture of the sun; it means sun or day.
白日依山盡
“The sun beyond the mountains glows” — Wang Zhihuan, ‘Climbing Stork Tower’
Other dates with this poem: May 23
The poem
“Pity the Farmers” 憫農
- 鋤禾日當午chú hé rì dāng wǔAt noon they hoe their crops under the sun;
- 汗滴禾下土hàn dī hé xià tǔTheir sweat drips down into the soil below.
- 誰知盤中飧shuí zhī pán zhōng sūnWho knows that of the food that fills our dish
- 粒粒皆辛苦lì lì jiē xīn kǔEach single grain was won through bitter toil?
Why this poem
Li Shen on farmers hoeing in the sun: every grain of rice is hard work.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Major Heat.