Birthday poem · January 17Minor Cold, the 23rd solar term: the weather turns colder.
Birth character
家 jiā · home
家 has a roof (宀) at the top; it means a home or household.
白雲生處有人家
“Where rise white clouds, there appear cottages and bowers.” — Du Mu, ‘Mountain Walk’
The poem
“Ink Plum” 墨梅
- 我家洗硯池頭樹The tree beside the pond where I wash my inkstone:
- 朵朵花開淡墨痕each blossom opens in traces of pale ink.
- 不要人誇好顏色It needs no one to praise its pretty colour —
- 只留清氣滿乾坤it only leaves its pure air filling heaven and earth.
Why this poem
Wang Mian's poem on his ink painting of plum blossom: no bright colours, only clean air.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Minor Cold.