China's Lunar Calendar 2019 09-16

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/20..............................................................................................................9/12

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
十
六

一期星

Ninth Month, Sixteenth Day 
Monday, September 16

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十德歲
靈日支
Generational Branch
Exemplary Days
Ten Spirits

————

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

亥未卯
吉中凶

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

07:00-09:00 Inauspicious
9:00-11:00 Inauspicious
11:00-13:00 In-Between
13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
21:00-23:00 Auspicious

 ————

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

忌
裁作修
衣灶廚

Repairing Kitchens
Stove Work
Cutting-out Clothing (Tailoring)

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
八
丙
辰
土
畢
危

Eighteenth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingchen (53/60)

Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Net (19/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

上出祭
樑火祀
安入入
門宅學
栽修訂
種造婚
安動裁
葬土衣
星短
天月上
刑殺兀

 ————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Entering Study
Marriage Engagements
Cutting-out Clothing (Tailoring)*
Starting Fires (Controlled Burns) 
Staying Home
Repairing and Cultivating
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Gates
Planting and Cultivating
Positioning Graves
*Somehow, the calendar lists tailoring as both lucky and unlucky today.

Short Star

Baleful Astral Influences

Upper Amputee
Lunar Balefulness
Heavenly Punishment

Section Seven
白 火

White, Fire

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items

廚
栖 灶

Kitchen
Perch, Stove