China's Lunar Calendar 2020 06-09

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/11..............................................................................................................6/4

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

九

日
二期星

Sixth Month, Ninth Day 
Tuesday, June 9
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)
不十守麒
將靈日麟

Unicorn
Protected Days
Ten Spirits
Not General

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

中凶吉
23:00-01:00 Inauspicious

01:00-03:00 Inauspicious
03:00-05:00 Auspicious
05:00-07:00 Auspicious

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

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

 ————

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

忌
行成除詞
喪服靈訟

Lawsuits and Litigation
Exorcising Spirits
Completing Clothing
Mourning Visits

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
八
癸
未

木
尾
除

Eighteenth Day (Intercalary Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: guiwei (20/60)

Phase (element): Wood
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Tail (6/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

安掃訂祭
牀舎婚祀
作修嫁入
灶造娶學
納動移會
畜土徙友
安上理出
葬樑髮行
不債
孤復三羊
辰喪喪口

————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Marriage Alliances
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Sweeping Rooms
Repairing and Cultivating
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Debt Not

Baleful Astral Influences

Goat Mouth
Three Mournings
Repeat Mourning
Orphan Dawn

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)

厠 牀 房

Toilet, Bed, Edifice