China's Lunar Calendar 2020 11-20

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
11/28..................................................................................................................11/20

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

二

十

五期星

Eleventh Month, Twentieth Day
Friday, November 20
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

陰時三民

德陰合日

Peopled Days

Three Linkages

Timely Yin

Yin Exemplarity

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
中中中

酉巳丑
凶凶中

戌午寅
中凶吉

亥未卯

吉吉凶

23:00-01:00 In-Between

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

07:00-09:00 In-Between
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 In-Between

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

 ————

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

忌
開穿整里

池井甲髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Trimming Nails

Boring Wells

Opening Ponds

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

六

丁

卯

火

亢

定

Sixth Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: dingmao (4/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Neck (2/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

釀交采祭

修易嫁祀

倉修娶會

納造裁友

畜動衣出

成土移行

服上徙訂

安樑開婚

髒醞市納

陰元死兔

將武氣口

————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Fermenting Beverages

Repairing Granaries

Livestock Payments

Completing Clothing

Positioning Graves

Baleful Astral Influences

Rabbit Orifice

Death Vapor

Primal Martiality

Yin General

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 is under the bottom of each character)

庫 倉 門

Storehouse, Granary, Gate