Birthday poem · November 14Start of Winter, the 19th solar term: winter begins.

Birthday poem card for November 14: “Climbing Feilai Peak” by Wang Anshi. Birth character 望, gaze, hope.

Birth character

望 wàng · gaze, hope

望 means to look into the distance, and also to hope.

舉頭望明月
“Looking up, I find the moon bright” — Li Bai, ‘Quiet Night Thoughts’

Other dates with this poem: June 10

The poem

“Climbing Feilai Peak” 登飛來峰

  1. 飛來山上千尋塔fēi lái shān shàng qiān xún tǎOn Feilai Peak a pagoda rises a thousand fathoms high;
  2. 聞說雞鳴見日升wén shuō jī míng jiàn rì shēngAt cockcrow, they say, you can watch the sun rise.
  3. 不畏浮雲遮望眼bù wèi fú yún zhē wàng yǎnI do not fear floating clouds that block the view—
  4. 自緣身在最高層zì yuán shēn zài zuì gāo céngFor I stand on the highest tier of all.

Wang Anshi 王安石 · Northern Song dynasty · 1021–1086 · seven-character verse

English translation by Poetune.

Read “Climbing Feilai Peak” in full, with notes →

Why this poem

Wang Anshi climbs Feilai Peak, "not afraid of clouds blocking the view".

This day in the Chinese calendar

Solar term: Start of Winter.

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