China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 06-02

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/8........................... .................................................................................................................................6/1

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)

二

日

五期星

Sixth Month, Second Day

Friday, June 2

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

生陰普天

氣德護德

Heavenly Exemplarity

Universal Protection

Yin Exemplarity

Engendered Vapor

————

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

中中中

酉巳丑

凶吉中

戌午寅

吉吉吉

亥未卯

凶中吉

23:00-1:00 In-Between

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 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 In-Between

17:00-19:00 Inauspicious

19:00-21:00 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

————

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

忌

開穿造合

池井酒醬

Mixing Sauces

Making Liquor

Digging Wells

Opening Ponds

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

五

辛

卯

木

亢

開

Fifteenth Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: xinmao (28/60)

Phase (element): Wood

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Neck (2/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Opening (11/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

修裁出祭

造衣行祀

動移訂祈

土徙婚福

上開納入

樑市采學

置交嫁會

產易娶友

煞班

俱元天小

  將武火亡空

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

 Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising beams

Setting-up Production

Classified Balefulness

Baleful Asterisms

Small Loss-Void

Heavenly Conflagration

Primal Martiality

Everything General

————

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

丫 人

Bifurcation, Person

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

門 灶 厨

Gate, Stove, Kitchen