China's Lunar Calendar 2020 03-24

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/28...................................................3/24..............Monthly Calendar Information

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
廿
四
二期星

Third Month, Twenty-Fourth Day 
Tuesday, March 24

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不王歲
將日馬
Generational Equinity
Kingly Days
Not General

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

亥未卯
中中吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
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
祭作修
祀灶廚

Repairing Kitchens
Stove Work
Venerating Ancestors

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
一
丙
寅

火
室
閉

First Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingyin (3/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Room (13/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Closed (12/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

安交入
牀易學
補修出
塞造行
納動訂
畜土婚
安上立
葬梁約
星長
歸水虎
忌痕口

————

Appropriate Activities

 Entering Study
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Making Appointments
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Patching and Plugging
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Long Star

Baleful Astral Influences

Tiger Orifice
Water Scar
Return Taboo

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

White, Earth

 ————

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
爐 灶

Kitchen
Furnace, Stove