Birthday poem · December 23Winter Solstice, the 22nd solar term: the longest night of the year.
Birth character
家 jiā · home
家 has a roof (宀) at the top; it means a home or household.
白雲生處有人家
“Where rise white clouds, there appear cottages and bowers.” — Du Mu, ‘Mountain Walk’
Other dates with this poem: August 15
The poem
“Coming Home” 回鄕偶書
- 少小離家老大回shào xiǎo lí jiā lǎo dà huíI left home young. I return old,
- 鄕音無改鬢毛衰xiāng yīn wú gǎi bìn máo cuīSpeaking as then, but with hair grown thin;
- 兒童相見不相識ér tóng xiāng jiàn bù xiāng shíAnd my children, meeting me, do not know me.
- 笑問客從何處來xiào wèn kè cóng hé chù láiThey smile and say: "Stranger, where do you come from?"
Why this poem
He Zhizhang comes home in old age, and the children ask where the stranger is from.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Winter Solstice.