Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"
⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
2/20...........................................................2/17....................................Monthly Calendar Information
2/20...........................................................2/17....................................Monthly Calendar Information
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.
Solar Calendar Date
(top to bottom, right to left)
廿一年二二
九月 五〇
日
三期星
Second Month, Seventeenth Day
Thursday, February 17
————
Section Two
Beneficent Stars
Beneficent Stars
(top to bottom, right to left)
青聖於備吉母
龍心左列神日
Generational Branch
Three Linkages
Heavenly Exemplarity
Linked Days
Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician
————
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left)
申辰甲
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left)
申辰甲
凶吉吉
酉巳丑
吉中吉
戌午寅
凶凶吉
亥未卯
吉吉中
23:00-1:00 Inauspicious
1:00-3:00 In-Between
3:00-5:00 Auspicious
5:00-7:00 Auspicious
7:00-9:00 Inauspicious
9:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 In-Between
13:00-15:00 Auspicious
15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
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
行成除栽出開
喪服靈種財倉
Opening Irrigation Sluices
Putting-into Water
Planting and Cultivating
Field Venery (Goin' Huntin')
New Boats
Entering Water
————
Section Five
Cosmological Information
Cosmological Information
初
一
戊
戌
木
參
收
First Day (First Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: renxu (59//60)
Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Room (13//28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)
————
Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top to bottom; right to left)
節春
南時鬼時丑喜
死戴神向寅神
門路大正茂財
正空吉南巳神
北亡是方時正
勿不日迎合南
句宜子喜吉貴
日出辰神出神
還行申財行正
食噩時神宜東
我神凶正用炷
國五寅東丑香
不鬼卯方巳宜
見東二迎午用
SPRING FESTIVAL
Spirits of Happiness: Due South
Wealth God: Due South
The rest of the column continues in this manner, and
creates a directional symbolism for thinking about various
divinatory activities (something that is not in
the day columns for the rest of the year.
Happy New Year!
