Birthday poem · September 26Autumn Equinox, the 16th solar term: day and night are equal again.
Birth character
曉 xiǎo · dawn
曉 combines 日 "sun" with a sound element; it means daybreak.
春眠不覺曉
“This spring morning in bed I'm lying” — Meng Haoran, ‘Spring Dawn’
Other dates with this poem: December 10
The poem
“Before the Exam, for Zhang Ji” 近試上張水部
- 洞房昨夜停紅燭Last night in the bridal chamber the red candles burned;
- 待曉堂前拜舅姑at dawn she will bow to her in-laws in the hall.
- 妝罷低聲問夫婿Her make-up done, she quietly asks her husband:
- 畫眉深淺入時無"Are my brows painted dark enough for today's taste?"
Why this poem
Before the exam, Zhu Qingyu casts himself as a bride asking if her make-up suits.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Autumn Equinox.