Birthday poem · February 27Rain Water, the 2nd solar term: snow gives way to rain.
Birth character
新 xīn · new
新 first meant cutting wood with an axe; it was borrowed to mean new.
客舍青青柳色新
“The willows by the tavern look so fresh and green.” — Wang Wei, ‘Farewell to Yuan Er on His Mission to Anxi’
The poem
“Farewell to Yuan Er on His Mission to Anxi” 送元二使安西
- 渭城朝雨浥輕塵wèi chéng zhāo yǔ yì qīng chénNo dust is raised on pathways wet with morning rain;
- 客舍青青柳色新kè shè qīng qīng liǔ sè xīnThe willows by the tavern look so fresh and green.
- 勸君更盡一杯酒quàn jūn gèng jìn yī bēi jiǔI urge you to drink another cup of wine again:
- 西出陽關無故人xī chū yáng guān wú gù rénWest of the Sunny Pass no more friends will be seen.
Why this poem
Wang Wei sees a friend off to the western frontier: "west of Yang Pass, no old friends".
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Rain Water.