China's Lunar Calendar 2020 10-27

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/29..........................................................................................................10/21

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

廿
七

二期星

Tenth Month, Twenty-Seventh Day
Tuesday, October 27
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)
不聖六麒
將心合麟

Unicorn
Six Linkages
Sagely Heart-Mind
Not General

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

中凶吉
23:00-01:00 Auspicious

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

07:00-09:00 Inauspicious
9:00-11:00 In-Between

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious
 13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious

19:00-21:00 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 In-Between

 ————

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

忌
修開穿詞
倉池井訟

Lawsuits and Litigation
Boring Wells
Opening Ponds
Repairing Granaries

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
一
癸
卯

金
尾
執

Eleventh Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: guimao (40/60)

Phase (element): Metal
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Tail (6/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  
(top-to-bottom; right to left)    

宜
安醫嫁祭
牀病娶祀
作修納祈
灶造采福
除動移會
服土徙友
安上理出
葬樑髮行
虛五
勾大大咸
陳敗時池
————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair
Physician Visits
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Discarding Clothing
Positioning Graves

Five Voids

Baleful Astral Influences

Widespread Pond
Great Timeliness
Great Defeat
Narrative Hook

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

White, Mountain
————

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)

門 牀 房

Gate, Bed, Edifice