Birthday poem · October 20Cold Dew, the 17th solar term: temperatures drop and the dew turns cold.
Birth character
高 gāo · high
高 is a picture of a tall building; it means high.
遠近高低各不同
“Assuming different shapes viewed from far and wide.” — Su Shi, ‘Written on the Wall at West Forest Temple’
The poem
“Thinking of My Brothers on the Double Ninth” 九月九日憶山東兄弟
- 獨在異鄕爲異客dú zài yì xiāng wéi yì kèAlone, a lonely stranger in a foreign land,
- 每逢佳節倍思親měi féng jiā jié bèi sī qīnI doubly pine for my kinsfolk on holiday.
- 遙知兄弟登高處yáo zhī xiōng dì dēng gāo chùI know my brothers would, with dogwood spray in hand,
- 遍插茱萸少一人biàn chā zhū yú shǎo yī rénClimb up the mountain and miss me so far away.
Why this poem
Wang Wei missing his brothers at Double Ninth: "on every holiday I miss my family more".
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Cold Dew.