Birthday poem · January 21Major Cold, the 24th solar term: the coldest time of the year.
Birth character
梅 méi · plum blossom
梅 combines 木 "tree" with 每 as a sound element; it is the plum, which flowers in early spring.
牆角數枝梅
“At the wall corner a few plum sprays” — Wang Anshi, ‘Plum Blossoms’
The poem
“Miscellaneous Poem (You Have Come from Home)” 雜詩（君自故鄕來）
- 君自故鄕來jūn zì gù xiāng láiYou have come from our old home;
- 應知故鄕事yīng zhī gù xiāng shìYou must know how things are there.
- 來日綺窗前lái rì qǐ chuāng qiánThe day you left, before my silk window—
- 寒梅著花未hán méi zhuó huā wèiHad the winter plum begun to flower?
Why this poem
Wang Wei asks someone from home: has the plum by my window bloomed yet?
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Major Cold.