China's Lunar Calendar 2020 11-04

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
11/6..........................................................................................................10/30

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

四
日

三期星

Eleventh Month, Fourth Day
Wednesday, November 4
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十敬德天
靈安合月
Heavenly Lunarity
Exemplary Linkage
Reverential Calm
Ten Spirits

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

中吉吉
23:00-01:00 In-Between

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

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

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

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
除嫁造合
服娶酒醬

Mixing Sauces
Making Liquor
Marriage Alliances
Discarding Clothing

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
九
辛
亥

金
壁
除

Nineteenth Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: xinhai (48/60)

Phase (element): Metal
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Eastern Wall (14/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

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

宜
安掃出祭
門舎行祀
作移裁祈
灶徙衣福
開竪理入
光柱髮學
納上整會
畜樑甲友
日重
土劫孤豬
符煞辰口
————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)
Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Trimming Nails
Sweeping Rooms
Moving Residences
Erecting Pillars
Raising Beams
Positioning Gates
Stove Work
Consecrations
Livestock Payments

Doubled Days

Baleful Astral Influences

Monkey Mouth
Orphan Dawn
Plundered Balefulness
Soil Charm

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 is under the bottom of each character)

牀 灶 廚

Bed, Stove, Kitchen