China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2024 08-13

 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

三

二期星

Eighth Month, Thirteenth Day

Tuesday, August 13

————

 Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

進合歲

神日德

Generational Exemplarity

Linked Days

Entering Spirits

————

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

吉吉吉

酉巳乙

中吉凶

戌午寅

凶吉凶

亥未卯

凶吉凶

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

 01:00-03:00 Inauspicious

 03:00-05:00 Inauspicious

 05:00-07:00 Inauspicious

07:00-09:00 Auspicious

  09:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

17:00-19:00 In-Between

19:00-21:00 Inauspicious

21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

————

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

忌

田塞補

獵穴垣

Patching Embankments

Plugging Caves

Field Venery (Goin' Huntin')

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

十

己

酉

土

觜

除

Tenth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: jiyou (46/60)

Phase (element): Earth

"Constellation Personality: Beak of the Turtle (20/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

安掃祭

牀舍祀

安修祈

門造福

成動裁

服土衣

安上理

葬樑髮

將陰

五咸上

離池兀

Appropriate Activities

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

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Sweeping Rooms

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Positioning Gates

Completing Clothing

Positioning Graves

Yin General

Baleful Asterisms

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

Upper Amputee

Widespread Pond

Five Separations

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

人 人

Person, Person

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

占

門 大

Divination

Gate, Great