Birthday poem · October 7Autumn Equinox, the 16th solar term: day and night are equal again.

Birthday poem card for October 7: “Farewell to Xin Jian at Hibiscus Tower” by Wang Changling. Birth character 明, bright.

Birth character

明 míng · bright

明 puts 日 "sun" beside 月 "moon"; it means bright.

明月松間照
“Bright moon shines through the pines” — Wang Wei, ‘Autumn Evening in the Mountains’

Other dates with this poem: June 18

The poem

“Farewell to Xin Jian at Hibiscus Tower” 芙蓉樓送辛漸

  1. 寒雨連江夜入吳hán yǔ lián jiāng yè rù wúA cold rain mingled with the river steals into Wu by night;
  2. 平明送客楚山孤píng míng sòng kè chǔ shān gūAt dawn I see my guest off; the Chu hills stand alone in light.
  3. 洛陽親友如相問luò yáng qīn yǒu rú xiāng wènIf kinsfolk and friends in Luoyang should ask if I am all right,
  4. 一片冰心在玉壺yī piàn bīng xīn zài yù húTell them I'm pure of heart as ice in a crystal vase of white.

Wang Changling 王昌齡 · Tang dynasty · c. 698–757 · seven-character verse

English translation by Poetune.

Read “Farewell to Xin Jian at Hibiscus Tower” in full, with notes →

Why this poem

Wang Changling's farewell: tell my family my heart is "ice in a jade pot".

This day in the Chinese calendar

Solar term: Autumn Equinox.

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