China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2026 09-20

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦

9/22...................................................................................................................................................9/15

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)

二

十

日期星

Ninth Month, Twentieth Day

Sunday, September 20

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十玉

靈堂

Jade Hall

Ten Spirits

————

Section Three

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

中中凶

酉巳乙

吉中吉

戌午寅

中吉中

亥未卯

吉吉凶

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

 01:00-03:00 Auspicious

 03:00-05:00 In-Between

 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 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

動理

土髮

Patterning Hair

Moving Soil

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

十

丁

酉

火

房

建

Tenth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: dingyou (34/60)

Phase (element): Fire

"Constellation Personality: Edifice (4/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Establish (1/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

宜

掃

舎

伐

木

啟

攢

安

葬

土債

府不

月密

刑日

Appropriate Activities

Sweeping Rooms

Felling Timber

Creating Savings

Positioning Graves

Baleful Asterisms

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

Debt Not

Mysterious Days

Soil Palace

Lunar Punishment

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 

(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English, however, "fits" below each character)

人 州

Person, Landmass

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

門

庫 倉

Gate

Storehouse, Granary

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2026 09-19

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦

9/22...................................................................................................................................................9/15

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

九

六期星

Ninth Month, Nineteenth Day

Saturday, September 19

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

聖歲歲

心馬德

Generational Exemplarity

Generational Equinity

Sagely Heart-Mind

————

Section Three

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

吉凶凶

酉巳乙

吉吉吉

戌午寅

吉中凶

亥未卯

吉吉凶

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

 01:00-03:00 Auspicious

 03:00-05:00 Inauspicious

 05:00-07:00 Inauspicious

07:00-09:00 Inauspicious

  09:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 In-Between

13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

動安作

土牀灶

Stove Work

Positioning Beds

Moving Soil

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

九

丙

申

火

底

閉

Ninth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: bingshen (33/60)

Phase (element): Fire

"Constellation Personality: Foundation (3/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Closed (12/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

宜

醞移出

釀居行

結入裁

網宅衣

納建理

畜屋髮

安塔掃

葬厠舎

囊地

血五上

支離兀

Appropriate Activities

Going Out (and about)

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Sweeping Rooms

Moving Households

Remaining Home

Establishing Rooms

Building Toilets

Fermenting Beverages

Binding Nets

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves

Earth Duffel

Baleful Asterisms

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

Upper Amputee

Five Separations

Blood Branch

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 

(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English, however, "fits" below each character)

人 水

Person, Water

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

厨

爐 灶

Kitchen

Furnace, Stove

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2026 09-18

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦

9/22...................................................................................................................................................9/15

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

五期星

Ninth Month, Eighteenth Day

Friday, September 18

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

生六歲

氣合支

Generational Branch

Six Linkages

Engendered Vapor

————

Section Three

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

吉中凶

酉巳乙

中凶凶

戌午寅

吉中吉

亥未卯

吉中凶

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

 01:00-03:00 Inauspicious

 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 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

17:00-19:00 In-Between

19:00-21:00 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

除動栽

服土種

Planting and Cultivating

Moving Soil

Discarding Clothing

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

八

乙

未

金

亢

開

Eighth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: yiwei (32/60)

Phase (element): Metal

"Constellation Personality: Neck (2/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

宜

移出祭

徙行祀

開嫁祈

市娶福

上納入

樑采學

納裁會

畜衣友

羞養鳥群

土復羊

符喪口

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Marriage Alliances

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Seizing and Capturing

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Raising Beams

Livestock Payments

Birds Flock and Gather Grain

(the forty-fifth of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods on the agricultural calendar)

Baleful Asterisms

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

Goat Mouth

Return Mourning

Soil Charm

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 

(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English, however, "fits" below each character)

人 人

Person, Person

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

碓

厠 磨

Pestle

Toilet, Mortar