China's Lunar Calendar 2020 09-03

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/8.................................................................................................................9/1

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

三
日

四期星

Ninth Month, Third Day
Thursday, September 3
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)
進除陰
神神德

Yin Exemplarity
Abandoning Spirits
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
中凶凶
亥未卯

凶吉凶
23:00-01:00 Auspicious

01:00-03:00 Inauspicious
03:00-05:00 Inauspicious
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
取田栽
魚獵種

Planting and Cultivating
Field Venery (Hunting)
Garnering Piscinity (Goin' Fishin')

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
六
己
酉

土
斗
除

Sixteenth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: jiyou (46/60)

Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Southern Ladle (8/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
上掃祭
樑舎祀
安裁祈
牀衣福
除修沐
服造浴
安動理
葬土髮
池咸
五上大
 離兀亡空
————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Bubbling and Bathing
Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Sweeping Rooms
Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Discarding Clothing
Positioning Graves

Widespread Pond

Baleful Astral Influences

Great Loss-Void
Upper Amputee
Five Separations

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

Bifurcation, Person
————

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