Birthday poem · March 5Awakening of Insects, the 3rd solar term: the first thunder; insects stir.
Birth character
雲 yún · cloud
雲 means cloud; the older form 云 shows swirling vapour.
白雲生處有人家
“Where rise white clouds, there appear cottages and bowers.” — Du Mu, ‘Mountain Walk’
The poem
“Thinking of Li Bai on a Spring Day” 春日憶李白
- 白也詩無敵Li Bai, your poems have no equal;
- 飄然思不群your thoughts soar, unlike any other's.
- 渭北春天樹North of the Wei, the spring trees;
- 江東日暮雲east of the river, the evening clouds.
Why this poem
Du Fu misses Li Bai in spring and calls his poetry unrivalled.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Awakening of Insects.