Birthday poem · March 7Awakening of Insects, the 3rd solar term: the first thunder; insects stir.
Birth character
水 shuǐ · water
水 is a picture of flowing water.
爲有源頭活水來
“Because fresh water flows in from the source unseen.” — Zhu Xi, ‘Thoughts on Reading’
The poem
“A Guest Arrives” 客至
- 舍南舍北皆春水North and south of my cottage, spring water everywhere;
- 但見群鷗日日來I see only flocks of gulls coming day after day.
- 花徑不曾緣客掃The flower path has never been swept for a guest;
- 蓬門今始爲君開my rustic gate opens today, for the first time, for you.
Why this poem
Du Fu welcomes a guest: his gate is opened for a visitor for the first time.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Awakening of Insects.