China's Lunar Calendar 2019 11-20

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
11/25...........................................................................................................11/18

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
二
十
三期星

Eleventh Month, Twentieth Day 
Wednesday, November 20

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

生聖母
氣心倉
Maternal Granary
Sagely Heart-Mind
Engendered Vapor

————

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
中吉中
酉巳丑
凶凶中
戌午寅
中吉吉

亥未卯
中中凶

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
21:00-23:00 In-Between

 ————

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

忌
補進合
塞酒醬

Mixing Sauces
Making Liquor
Patching and Plugging

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
四
辛

酉
木
軫

開

Twenty-Fourth Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: xinyou (58/60)

Phase (element): Wood
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Running Board (28/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

動理祭
土髮祀
安醫入
門病學
作立出
灶約行
牧交裁
養易衣
煞班
朱天雞
雀火口
————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Entering Study
Going Out (and about)
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Physician Treatments
Making Appointments
Trade and Commerce
Moving Soil
Positioning Gates
Stove Work
Raising Livestock

Classified Balefulness

Baleful Astral Influences

Chicken Orifice
Heavenly Fire
Vermilion Bird

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese should be read right to left, 
but the English translation is underneath each character)
白 林

White, Copse

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items 
(the Chinese should be read top-to-bottom, and right-to-left;
the English translation for is under the bottom characters)

廚
門 灶

Kitchen
Gate, Stove