China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 02-26

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/5.........................................................................................................................................................2/25

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)

廿

六

日期星

Second Month, Twenty-Sixth Day

Sunday, February 26

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

玉吉天官

宇期貴日

Official Days

Heavenly Nobility

Auspicious Time-Slice

Jade Expanse

————

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

凶中吉

酉巳丑

凶凶中

戌午寅

吉中吉

亥未卯

吉吉吉

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 In-Between

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 Inauspicious

11:00-13:00 In-Between

13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 Inauspicious

19:00-21:00 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

忌

開穿時栽

池井插種

Planting and Cultivating

Timely Injections

Boring Wells

Opening Ponds

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

七

乙

酉

水

昂

除

Seventh Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: yimao (52/60)

Phase (element): Water

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Pleiades (18//28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; right to left)

宜

安開訂祭

牀市婚祀

安交嫁入

門易娶學

作修理會

灶造髮友

除動醫出

復土病行

池咸

陰朱密水

將雀日痕

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Marriage Alliances

Patterning Hair

Physician Visits

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Positioning Beds

Positioning Gates

Stove Work

Discarding Clothing

Widespread Pond

Baleful Asterisms

Water Scar

Mysterious Days

Vermilion Days

Yin General

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English, however, "fits" directly below each character)

白 林

White, Copse

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English,

however, "fits" intuitively in the configuration of characters)

門 磨 碓

Gate, Mortar, Pestle