Birthday poem · October 26Frost’s Descent, the 18th solar term: the first frosts.
Birth character
紅 hóng · red
紅 combines 糸 "silk" with 工 as a sound element; it first meant pink silk, then red.
霜葉紅於二月花
“Frost-bitten leaves look redder than early spring flowers.” — Du Mu, ‘Mountain Walk’
Other dates with this poem: December 27
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: Frost’s Descent.