Birthday poem · November 23Minor Snow, the 20th solar term: the first snow.
Birth character
心 xīn · heart
心 is a picture of the heart, once thought to be the organ of thought.
笑而不答心自閒
“My mind carefree, I smile and give him no reply.” — Li Bai, ‘Question and Answer in the Mountains’
Other dates with this poem: May 22
The poem
“Rural Life in Four Seasons (Summer)” 四時田園雜興
- 晝出耘田夜績麻By day they hoe the fields, by night they spin hemp;
- 村莊兒女各當家every son and daughter in the village has a task.
- 童孫未解供耕織The little grandchildren can't yet plough or weave,
- 也傍桑陰學種瓜but by the mulberry shade they practise planting melons.
Why this poem
Fan Chengda on a farm family in summer; even the children plant melons under the mulberries.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Minor Snow.