China's Lunar Calendar 2018 10-22

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/29............................................................................................................10/21

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. 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. 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.

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
廿
二

一期星

Tenth Month, Twenty-Second Day  
Monday, October 22

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

五吉
富期

Auspicious Temporal-Slice
Five Abundances

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
中凶中
酉巳丑
吉凶吉
戌午寅
吉吉吉

亥未卯
吉吉凶

23:00-01:00 In-Between
01:00-03:00 Auspicious
03:00-05:00 Auspicious
05:00-07:00 Inauspicious

07:00-09:00 Inauspicious
9:00-11:00 Inauspicious
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 Auspicious
21:00-23:00 Auspicious

 ————

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

忌
嫁理
娶髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Marriage Alliances

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
四
丁
亥
土
張
除

Fourteenth Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dinghai (24/60)

Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Drawn Bow (26/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)

宜

會
友
治
病
重上
日朔
土上
符兀

 ————

Appropriate Activities
Meeting Friends
Treating Illness

Baleful Asterisms

Upper Decade
Upper Amputee
Doubled Days
Soil Charm

 ————

Section Seven

白 林

White, Copse
 ————

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities

倉
牀 庫

Granary
Bed, Storehouse