Birthday poem · May 22Grain Buds, the 8th solar term: wheat and barley begin to fill.

Birthday poem card for May 22: “Rural Life in Four Seasons (Summer)” by Fan Chengda. Birth character 家, home.

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 23

The poem

“Rural Life in Four Seasons (Summer)” 四時田園雜興

  1. 晝出耘田夜績麻By day they hoe the fields, by night they spin hemp;
  2. 村莊兒女各當家every son and daughter in the village has a task.
  3. 童孫未解供耕織The little grandchildren can't yet plough or weave,
  4. 也傍桑陰學種瓜but by the mulberry shade they practise planting melons.

Fan Chengda 范成大 · Southern Song dynasty · 1126–1193 · seven-character verse

English translation by Poetune.

Why this poem

Fan Chengda on a farm family in summer; even the children plant melons under the mulberries.

This day in the Chinese calendar

Solar term: Grain Buds.

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