China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2024 09-26

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/2...........................................................................................................................................9/25

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)

廿

六

四期星

Ninth Month, Twenty-Sixth Day

Thursday, September 26

————

 Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不月天四

將恩喜相

Four Facings

Heavenly Happiness

Lunar Kindness

Not General

————

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

吉吉吉

酉巳乙

吉中吉

戌午寅

凶中中

亥未卯

凶凶凶

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

 01:00-03:00 In-Between

 03:00-05:00 In-Between

 05:00-07:00 Inauspicious

07:00-09:00 Auspicious

  09:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 In-Between

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

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

成除遠詞

服服行訟

Lawsuits and Litigation

Distant Journeys

Discarding Clothing

Completing Clothing

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

四

癸

巳

水

斗

成

Twenty-Fourth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: guisi (30/60)

Phase (element): Water

"Constellation Personality: Southern Dipper (8/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

樑開友祭

修市嫁祀

倉交娶祈

安易納福

牀修采求

栽造移嗣

種動徙入

納土醫學

畜上病會

朱刀重九

  雀砧日鬼土

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Seeking Inheritance

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Moving Residences

Physician Visits

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Repairing Granaries

Positioning Beds

Planting and Cultivating

Livestock Payments

Baleful Asterisms

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

Nine Ghost-Soils

Doubled Days

Sword Anvil

Vermilion Bird

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

白 山

White, Mountain

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

牀 房 占

Bed, Edifice, Divination