Birthday poem · September 13Moon-viewing season, in the White Dew period.
Birth character
清 qīng · clear, pure
清 combines 水 "water" with 青 as a sound element; it means clear water, or pure.
問渠那得清如許
“I ask how it can stay so clear and clean” — Zhu Xi, ‘Thoughts on Reading’
The poem
“On the Night of the Fifteenth of the Eighth Month, on Duty in the Palace, Thinking of Yuan Zhen” 八月十五日夜禁中獨直對月憶元九
- 銀臺金闕夕沉沉yín tái jīn què xī chén chénSilver terraces and golden gates — the evening is deep and still;
- 獨宿相思在翰林dú sù xiāng sī zài hàn línon night duty alone in the Hanlin Academy, I think of you.
- 三五夜中新月色sān wǔ yè zhōng xīn yuè sèThe fresh moonlight of the fifteenth night;
- 二千里外故人心èr qiān lǐ wài gù rén xīnthe heart of an old friend two thousand li away.
- 渚宮東面煙波冷zhǔ gōng dōng miàn yān bō lěngEast of the Zhugong palace the misty waves are cold;
- 浴殿西頭鐘漏深yù diàn xī tóu zhōng lòu shēnwest of the Bathing Hall the water clock drips deep.
- 猶恐清光不同見yóu kǒng qīng guāng bù tóng jiànI fear we do not share the same clear light —
- 江陵卑溼足秋陰jiāng líng bēi shī zú qiū yīnJiangling is low and damp, with many cloudy autumn days.
Why this poem
Bai Juyi on night duty at mid-autumn, missing his friend Yuan Zhen.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: White Dew. Near moon-viewing season.