Birthday poem · July 26Major Heat, the 12th solar term: the hottest time of the year.
Birth character
山 shān · mountain
山 is a picture of three peaks; it means mountain.
只緣身在此山中
“For we are lost in the heart of the very place.” — Su Shi, ‘Written on the Wall at West Forest Temple’
Other dates with this poem: May 18
The poem
“Village Evening” 村晚
- 草滿池塘水滿陂Grass fills the pond, water fills the bank;
- 山銜落日浸寒漪the hills hold the setting sun, dipping in cold ripples.
- 牧童歸去橫牛背The cowherd goes home, lying sideways on the ox's back,
- 短笛無腔信口吹playing a short flute, no tune, just what comes out.
Why this poem
Lei Zhen on a herd boy at dusk, sitting sideways on an ox and playing a flute.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Major Heat.