Birthday poem · April 10Clear and Bright, the 5th solar term: the weather warms and plants turn green.
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’
The poem
“Visiting a Village West of the Mountains” 遊山西村
- 莫笑農家臘酒渾mò xiào nóng jiā là jiǔ húnDo not laugh at the farmers' cloudy year-end wine;
- 豐年留客足雞豚fēng nián liú kè zú jī túnin a good harvest year they keep guests with plenty of chicken and pork.
- 山重水複疑無路shān chóng shuǐ fù yí wú lùMountain upon mountain, stream upon stream — the path seems gone;
- 柳暗花明又一村liǔ àn huā míng yòu yī cūnthen dark willows, bright flowers — another village.
- 簫鼓追隨春社近xiāo gǔ zhuī suí chūn shè jìnFlutes and drums follow one another, the spring festival near;
- 衣冠簡樸古風存yī guān jiǎn pǔ gǔ fēng cúnclothes and caps are plain, old customs still alive.
- 從今若許閒乘月cóng jīn ruò xǔ xián chéng yuèFrom now on, if you allow me to come at leisure by moonlight,
- 拄杖無時夜叩門zhǔ zhàng wú shí yè kòu ménI will tap at your gate with my staff at any hour of night.
Why this poem
Lu You visits a village: "just when there seems no way, another village appears".
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Clear and Bright.