Birthday poem · October 24Frost’s Descent, the 18th solar term: the first frosts.
Birth character
花 huā · flower
花 means a flower; the older form was 華.
花落知多少
“How many are the fallen flowers!” — Meng Haoran, ‘Spring Dawn’
The poem
“Mountain Walk” 山行
- 遠上寒山石徑斜yuǎn shàng hán shān shí jìng xiéI go up a slanting stony path to the cold hill;
- 白雲生處有人家bái yún shēng chù yǒu rén jiāWhere rise white clouds, there appear cottages and bowers.
- 停車坐愛楓林晚tíng chē zuò ài fēng lín wǎnI stop my cab in maple woods to gaze my fill;
- 霜葉紅於二月花shuāng yè hóng yú èr yuè huāFrost-bitten leaves look redder than early spring flowers.
Why this poem
Du Mu on maple woods in autumn: frosted leaves redder than spring flowers.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Frost’s Descent.