Birthday poem · January 10Minor Cold, the 23rd solar term: the weather turns colder.

Birth character

Other dates with this poem: November 3

The poem

“Thoughts on Reading” 觀書有感

1. 半畝方塘一鑑開bàn mǔ fāng táng yī jiàn kāiA square pond of half an acre opens like a glass;
2. 天光雲影共徘徊tiān guāng yún yǐng gòng pái huáiSky-light and cloud-shadows together pass.
3. 問渠那得清如許wèn qú nǎ dé qīng rú xǔI ask how it can stay so clear and clean—
4. 爲有源頭活水來wèi yǒu yuán tóu huó shuǐ láiBecause fresh water flows in from the source unseen.

Zhu Xi 朱熹 · Southern Song dynasty · 1130–1200 · seven-character verse

English translation by Poetune.

Why this poem

Zhu Xi compares the mind to a square pond fed by running water.

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