China's· Lunar-Solar Calendar 2024 12-18

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
12/22..............................................................................................................................................12/15

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

八

三二期星

Twelfth Month, Eighteenth Day

Wednesday, December 18

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十天聖三

靈倉心合

Three Linkages

Sagely Heart-Mind

Heavenly Granary

Ten Spirits

————

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

吉凶吉

酉巳乙

吉吉中

戌午寅

凶凶中

亥未卯

吉中中

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

 01:00-03:00 In-Between

 03:00-05:00 In-Between

 05:00-07:00 In-Between

07:00-09:00 Inauspicious

  09:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious

13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

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

時栽作修

插種灶厨

Repairing Kitchens

Stove Work

Planting and Cultivating

Timely Injections

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

八

丙

辰

土

箕

定

Eighteenth Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: bingchen (53/60)

Phase (element): Earth

"Constellation Personality: Winnowing Basket (7/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

上立訂祭

樑納婚祀

安交納祈

牀易采福

那修嫁會

畜造娶友

安動裁出

葬土衣行

兀上

破死天天

敗氣牢廢休

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves

Upper Amputee

Baleful Asterisms

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

Heavenly Abandon-Rests

Heavenly Penitentiary

Death Vapor

Destructive Defeat

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

白

White

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

栖 灶 厨

Perch, Stove, Kitchen