Birthday poem · November 8Start of Winter, the 19th solar term: winter begins.
Birth character
松 sōng · pine
松 combines 木 "tree" with 公 as a sound element; it means pine.
明月松間照
“Bright moon shines through the pines” — Wang Wei, ‘Autumn Evening in the Mountains’
Other dates with this poem: July 4
The poem
“Seeking the Recluse but Not Finding Him” 尋隱者不遇
- 松下問童子sōng xià wèn tóng zǐI ask your lad under the pines.
- 言師採藥去yán shī cǎi yào qùHe says, "My master has gone for herbs.
- 只在此山中zhǐ zài cǐ shān zhōngHe is somewhere in these mountains,
- 雲深不知處yún shēn bù zhī chùBut clouds are deep — I know not where."
Why this poem
Jia Dao seeks a hermit; the boy says he is somewhere on this mountain, lost in cloud.
This day in the Chinese calendar
Solar term: Start of Winter.