Birthday poem · December 29Winter Solstice, the 22nd solar term: the longest night of the year.
Birth character
玉 yù · jade
玉 is a picture of jade pieces on a string; it means jade.
碧玉妝成一樹高
“The slender beauty's dressed in emerald all about” — He Zhizhang, ‘Ode to the Willow’
Other dates with this poem: October 30
The poem
“A Child Playing with Ice” 稚子弄冰
- 稚子金盆脫曉冰At dawn the child lifts the ice from a golden basin,
- 彩絲穿取當銀鉦threads it on coloured silk to be a silver gong.
- 敲成玉磬穿林響Struck, it rings like a jade chime through the woods —
- 忽作玻璃碎地聲then suddenly shatters on the ground like glass.
Why this poem
Yang Wanli on a child using a disc of ice as a gong. A winter poem.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Winter Solstice.