Birthday poem · March 31Spring Equinox, the 4th solar term: day and night are equal.
Birth character
綠 lǜ · green
綠 combines 糸 "silk" with a sound element; it first meant green-dyed silk, then green.
萬條垂下綠絲絛
“A thousand branches droop like fringes made of jade.” — He Zhizhang, ‘Ode to the Willow’
The poem
“Joys of the Countryside” 田園樂
- 桃紅復含宿雨Peach blossoms red, still holding last night's rain;
- 柳綠更帶朝煙willows green, still wrapped in morning mist.
- 花落家童未掃Petals fall, and the houseboy hasn't swept them;
- 鶯啼山客猶眠the orioles sing, and the mountain guest still sleeps.
Why this poem
Wang Wei on a spring morning after rain: peach red, willow green, petals falling.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Spring Equinox.