China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2024 12-09

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
12/14..............................................................................................................................................12/6

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)

九

日

一期星

Twelfth Month, Ninth Day

Monday, December 9

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

要合月

安日德

Lunar Exemplarity

Linked Days

Urgent Calm

————

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

中中中

酉巳乙

吉吉凶

戌午寅

凶凶中

亥未卯

吉吉凶

23:00-1:00 In-Between

 01:00-03:00 Inauspicious

 03:00-05:00 In-Between

 05:00-07:00 Inauspicious

07:00-09:00 In-Between

  09:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious

13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between

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

成整理

復甲髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Trimming Nails

Completing Clothing

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

九

丁

未

水

張

危

Ninth Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: dingweii (44/60)

Phase (Element): Water

"Constellation Personality: Drawn Bow (26/28)

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

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

修裁祭

造衣祀

動合祈

土帳福

安立訂

牀約婚

作交納

灶易采

喪復

陽月八

將煞專

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing

Binding Sails

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Return Mourning

Baleful Asterisms

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

Eight Specialties

Lunar Balefulness

Yang General

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

人 林

Person, Copse

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

倉

厠 庫

Granary

Toilet, Storehouse