China's Lunar Calendar 2020 10-01

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/7..............................................................................................................9/30

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

一十
日月

四期星

Tenth Month, First Day
Thursday, October 1
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)
時母六歲
陰倉合支

Generational Branch
Six Linkages
Maternal Granary
Timely Yin

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

吉凶凶
23:00-01:00 Auspicious

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

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 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

 ————

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

忌
栽足整理
種甲手髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Hand Manicures
Foot and Toenail Care
Planting and Cultivating

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
五
丁
丑

水
斗
定

Fifteenth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: dingchou (14/60)

Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Southern Ladle (8/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
節秋
————
宜
牀修采會
作造移友
灶動徙出
修土開行
倉上市嫁
安樑交娶
葬安易納

勾上死大
 陳兀氣亡空
————

Autumn Festival

Appropriate Activities

Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Repairing Granaries
Positioning Graves

Baleful Astral Influences

Great Loss-Void
Death Vapor
Upper Amputee
Narrative Hook

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

Bifurcation, Copse
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items 
(the Chinese should be read top-to-bottom, and right-to-left;
the English translation is under the bottom of each character)

厠  庫 倉

Toilet, Storehouse, Granary