Birthday poem · August 8Start of Autumn, the 13th solar term: autumn begins in the traditional calendar.
Birth character
江 jiāng · river
江 combines 水 "water" with 工 as a sound element; it once meant the Yangtze.
唯見長江天際流
“Where I see but the endless River rolling by.” — Li Bai, ‘Farewell to Meng Haoran at Yellow Crane Tower’
Other dates with this poem: October 14
The poem
“Down Through Jingmen in Autumn” 秋下荊門
- 霜落荊門江樹空Frost falls on Jingmen; the river trees are bare;
- 布帆無恙掛秋風my cloth sail, unharmed, hangs in the autumn wind.
- 此行不爲鱸魚鱠I make this trip not for the sliced perch of home —
- 自愛名山入剡中I simply love the famous mountains, and head for Shan.
Why this poem
Li Bai sails east in autumn, saying he goes to see famous mountains.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Start of Autumn.