China's Lunar Calendar 2020 04-15

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
4/22..................................................................................................................4/15

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
五
三期星

Fourth Month, Fifteenth Day 
Wednesday, April 15

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天天聖母
醫喜心倉
Maternal Granary
Sagely Heart-Mind
Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
吉吉中
酉巳丑
吉吉吉
戌午寅
凶凶凶

亥未卯
中中吉

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

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

 ————

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

忌
進新除置
水船服產

Setting-up Production
Discarding Clothing
New Boats
Entering Water

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
三
戊
子

火
箕
成

Twenty-Third Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: wuzi (25/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Winnowing Basket (7/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

動醫出祭
土病行祀
上開嫁祈
梁市娶福
作交納入
灶易采學
醞修裁會
釀造衣友
痕水
歸復班月
忌喪煞忌

————

Appropriate Activities

 Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing (Tailoring and Sewing)
Physician Visits
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Stove Work
Fermenting Beverages

Water Scar

Baleful Astral Influences

Lunar Taboo
Classified Balefulness
Repeat Mourning
Return Taboo

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

Person, 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)

碓 牀 房

Pestle, Bed, Edifice