China's Lunar Calendar 2019 11-26

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
11/29..........................................11/26..............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. 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
六
二期星

Eleventh Month, Twenty-Sixth Day 
Tuesday, November 26

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

陰三民麒
德合日麟
Unicorn
Peopled Days
Three Linkages
Yin Exemplarity

————

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

亥未卯
吉吉凶

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 In-Between
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 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
21:00-23:00 Auspicious

 ————

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

忌
進新穿理
水船井髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Boring Wells
New Boats
Entering Water

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
一
丁

卯
火
尾

定

First Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dingmao (4/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Tail (6/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

樑開婚祭
修市納祀
倉交采會
醞易嫁友
釀修娶出
納造裁行
畜動衣赴
安土移任
葬上徙訂

陰元死水
將武氣痕

————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Taking-up Official Position
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Engagements
Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Cultivating
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Repairing Granaries
Fermenting Beverages
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves.

Baleful Astral Influences

Water Scar
Death Vapor
Primal Martiality
Yin General

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

White, Person

 ————

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)

庫 倉門

Storehouse, Granary, Gate