Birthday poem · February 16Start of Spring, the 1st solar term: spring begins in the traditional calendar.
Birth character
江 jiāng · river
江 combines 水 "water" with 工 as a sound element; it once meant the Yangtze.
唯見長江天際流
“Where I see but the endless River rolling by.” — Li Bai, ‘Farewell to Meng Haoran at Yellow Crane Tower’
The poem
“Remembering the South” 憶江南
- 江南好The south is lovely;
- 風景舊曾諳its scenery I once knew well.
- 日出江花紅勝火At sunrise, river flowers redder than fire;
- 春來江水綠如藍in spring, river water green as indigo.
- 能不憶江南How could I not remember the south?
Why this poem
Bai Juyi remembers spring south of the Yangtze: river flowers redder than fire.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Start of Spring.