China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 02-18

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
2/23............................................................................................................................2/15

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. 

As for interpreting the translation, 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 (almost any "it" you will see). 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. And do not assume that people from China understand the traditional calendar particularly well, either. I have encountered confusion and furrowed brows for countless items in the calendar. It can seem "remote," in other words, from the world we live in these days, and yet it is printed anew every single year.

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

(top to bottom, right to left)

十

八

四期星

Second Month, Eighteenth Day

Thursday, February 18

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十三歲歲

靈合支祿

Generational Emolument

Generational Branch

Three Linkages

Ten Spirits

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

凶中中

酉巳丑

吉中吉

戌午寅

中吉中

亥未卯

吉凶凶

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 In-Between

5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 In-Between

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

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
田進新理

獵水船髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

New Boats

Entering Water

Field Venery (Hunting)

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

七

丁

酉

火

斗

危

Seventh Day (First Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: dingyou (34/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Southern Dipper (8/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

水雨

零三酉

分孩正

宜

安動入祭

牀土學祀

安上移嫁

葬樑徙娶

魚祭獺

陽水長上

將痕星兀

Rainwater

(the second of twenty-four fifteen-day solar periods on the agricultural calendar)

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Marriage Alliances

Entering Study

Moving Residences

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Positioning Graves

River Otters Sacrifice Fish

(the fourth of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods on the agricultural calendar)

Baleful Astral Influences

Upper Amputee

Long Star

Water Scar

Yang General

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

White, 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