China's Lunar Calendar 2020 05-06

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/6..........................................................................................................4/28

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
六
日
三期星

Fifth Month, Sixth Day 
Wednesday, May 6

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

進月四
神恩相
Four Facings
Lunar Kindness
Entering Spirits

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
吉吉吉
酉巳丑
中吉凶
戌午寅
中凶中
亥未卯

凶吉凶
23:00-01:00 Auspicious

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

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

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

 ————

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

忌
時栽動
插種土

Moving Soil
Planting and Cultivating
Timely Injections

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
四
己
酉

土
軫
定

Fourteenth Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiyou (46/60)

Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Running Board (28/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

上納祭
梁采祀
醞移祈
釀徙福
成理出
服髮行
安開嫁
葬市娶
囊地
陰死月
將氣忌

————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair
Opening Markets
Raising Beams
Making Liquor
Completing Clothing
Positioning Graves

Earth Duffel (Dirt Bag)

Baleful Astral Influences

Lunar Taboo
Death Vapor
Yin General

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

White, Copse
————

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)

占
門 大

Divination
Gate, Great