Birthday poem · July 28Major Heat, the 12th solar term: the hottest time of the year.
Birth character
竹 zhú · bamboo
竹 is a picture of bamboo stems with hanging leaves.
竹杖芒鞋輕勝馬
“A bamboo staff and straw sandals, lighter than a horse” — Su Shi, ‘Calming the Waves’
Other dates with this poem: May 20
The poem
“Seeking Cool on a Summer Night” 夏夜追涼
- 夜熱依然午熱同At night the heat is still the same as at noon;
- 開門小立月明中I open the door and stand a while in the moonlight.
- 竹深樹密蟲鳴處Where the bamboo is deep and the trees dense and insects sing,
- 時有微涼不是風now and then comes a faint coolness — and it isn't the wind.
Why this poem
Yang Wanli on a hot summer night, finding a little cool deep in the bamboo.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Major Heat.