China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2024 08-10

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/16..................................................................................................................................8/9

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

日

六期星

Eighth Month, Tenth Day

Saturday, August 10

————

 Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

生時天

氣陽馬

Heavenly Equinity

Timely Yang

Engendered Vapor

————

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

吉凶凶

酉巳乙

吉吉中

戌午寅

凶吉凶

亥未卯

吉中中

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

 01:00-03:00 In-Between

 03:00-05:00 Inauspicious

 05:00-07:00 In-Between

07:00-09:00 Inauspicious

  09:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 Inauspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

忌

苫作修

蓋灶厨

Repairing Kitchens

Stove Work

Thatched Coverings

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

七

丙

午

水

胃

開

Seventh Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: yisi (43/60)

Phase (element): Water

"Constellation Personality: Stomach (17/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

夕七

————

宜

動訂祭

土婚祀

安移入

牀居學

成開出

服市行

痕水

陰天班

將火煞

Seventh Evening

(Double Seven Festival, 

celebrated to honor the coming-together of the herdboy and the weaving maiden)

Appropriate Activities

(top down, starting on the right; two characters each)

Venerating Ancestors

Entering Study

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Moving Soil

Positioning Beds

Completing Clothing

Water Scar

Baleful Asterisms

(top down, starting on the right; two characters each)

White, Fire

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

白 火

White, Fire

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

厨

碓 灶

Kitchen

Pestle, Stove