China's Lunar Calendar 2020 03-19

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs" 

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/23..........................................................................................................3/16

This is one in a never-ending series—following the movements of the calendar—in Round and Square perpetuity. It is today's date in the Chinese lunar-solar (or "luni-solar" calendar; I call it the "lunar" calendar in order to distinguish it from the kinds of calendars most Westerners use. It has a basic translation and minimal interpretation. Unless you have been studying calendars (and Chinese culture) for many years, you will likely find yourself asking "what does that mean?" I would caution that "it" doesn't "mean" any one thing. There are clusters of meaning, and they require patience, reflection, careful reading, and, well, a little bit of ethnographic fieldwork. The best place to start is the introduction to "Calendars and Almanacs" on this blog. I teach a semester-long course on this topic and, trust me, it takes a little bit of time to get used to the lunar calendar. Some of the material is readily accessible; some of it is impenetrable, even after many years.

As time goes on, I will link all of the sections to lengthy background essays. This will take a while. In the meantime, take a look, read the introduction, and think about all of the questions that emerge from even a quick look at the calendar. You will likely find that several of the translations seem quite "fanciful" in English. I am simply trying to convey that they also sound fairly fanciful in Chinese.

Section One

Solar Calendar Date
十
九
四期星

Third Month, Nineteenth Day 
Thursday, March 19

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

除玉
神宇
Jade Universe
Exorcising Spirits

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
中吉中
酉巳丑
凶中吉
戌午寅
中凶吉

亥未卯
中中凶

23:00-01:00 In-Between
01:00-03:00  In-Between
03:00-05:00 Auspicious
05:00-07:00 Inauspicious

07:00-09:00 Auspicious
9:00-11:00  Auspicious
11:00-13:00 Inauspicious
13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
21:00-23:00 In-Between

 ————

Section Four 
Activities to Avoid  
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

忌
造合
酒醬

Mixing Sauces
Making Liquor

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
六
辛
酉

木
斗
破

Twenty-Sixth Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: xinyou (58/60)

Phase (element): Wood
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Southern Dipper (8/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Destroy (7/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
破

屋

壞

垣
諸日
事值
不四
宜離
四
離
復月
喪破

————

Appropriate Activities
Destroying Rooms
Smashing Embankments

Four Separations
The day is overseen by the Four Separations;
any further activities are not recommended.

Baleful Astral Influences

Lunar Destruction
Repeat Mourning

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese should be read right to left, 
but the English translation is underneath each character)
丫 州

Bifurcation, Landmass

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items 
(the Chinese should be read top-to-bottom, and right-to-left;
the English translation for is under the bottom characters)

廚
門 灶

Kitchen
Gate, Stove