Birthday poem · September 5End of Heat, the 14th solar term: the summer heat eases.
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: November 5
The poem
“Chrysanthemums” 菊花
- 秋叢繞舍似陶家Autumn clumps surround the house, like Tao Yuanming's home;
- 遍繞籬邊日漸斜I circle the fence again and again as the sun sinks.
- 不是花中偏愛菊It's not that among flowers I favour the chrysanthemum —
- 此花開盡更無花it's that when this one is done, no flowers are left.
Why this poem
Yuan Zhen on why he loves chrysanthemums: after them, no flowers bloom. An autumn poem.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: End of Heat.