China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2024 08-31

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/2.....................................................................................................................................8/26

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)

卅

一

六期星

Eighth Month, Thirty-First Day

Saturday, August 31

————

 Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天益合月

恩后日德

Lunar Exemplarity

Linked Days

Increase Imperial

Heavenly Kindness

————

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

中中中

酉巳乙

凶中中

戌午寅

凶吉凶

亥未卯

吉吉凶

23:00-1:00 In-Between

 01:00-03:00 In-Between

 03:00-05:00 Inauspicious

 05:00-07:00 Inauspicious

07:00-09:00 In-Between

  09:00-11:00 In-Between

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between

17:00-19:00 Inauspicious

19:00-21:00 Inauspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

忌

動開穿理

土池井髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Boring Wells

Opening Ponds

Moving Soil

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

八

丁

卯

火
女

危

Twenty-Eighth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: dingmao (4/60)

Phase (element): Fire

"Constellation Personality: Maiden (10/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

作立嫁祭

灶約娶祀

納交納祈

畜易采福

成上裁會

服樑衣友

安安移出

葬牀徙行

符土

俱朱五上

將雀虛兀

Appropriate Activities

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

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing

Moving Residences

Setting-up Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Livestock Payments

Cutting-out Clothing

Positioning Graves

Soil Charm

Baleful Asterisms

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

Upper Amputee

Five Voids

Vermilion Bird

Everything General

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

丫 林

Bifurcation, Copse

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

庫 倉 門

Storehouse, Granary, Gate