China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2024 09-08

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/15.....................................................................................................................................9/8

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)

八

日

日期星

Ninth Month, Eighth Day

Sunday, September 8

————

 Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十合月

靈日德

Lunar Exemplarity

Linked Days

 Ten Spirits

————

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

吉中吉

酉巳乙

中凶吉

戌午寅

凶中吉

亥未卯

中吉凶

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

 01:00-03:00 Auspicious

 03:00-05:00 Auspicious

 05:00-07:00 Inauspicious

07:00-09:00 In-Between

  09:00-11:00 Inauspicious

11:00-13:00 In-Between

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 In-Between

————

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

忌

除嫁栽

服娶種

Planting and Cultivating

Marriage Alliances

Discarding Clothing

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

六

乙

亥

火
昂

滿

Sixth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: yihai (12/60)

Phase (element): Fire

"Constellation Personality: Pleiades (18/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

動裁祭

土衣祀

上移入

樑徙學

安開會

牀市友

納交出

畜易行

喪復

俱重密

將日日

Appropriate Activities

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

Venerating Ancestors

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Cutting-out Clothing

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Livestock Payments

Return Mourning

Baleful Asterisms

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

Mysterious Days

Doubled Days

Everything General

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

丫

Bifurcation

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

碓

牀 磨

Pestle

Bed, Mortar