China's Lunar Calendar 2019 12-30

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
12/30..............................................12/26.........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
三
十
一期星

Twelfth Month, Thirtieth Day 
Monday, December 30

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不陰寶
將德光
Precious Ray
Yin Exemplarity
Not General

————

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

亥未卯
吉凶吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
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
行造合
喪酒醬

Mixing Sauces
Making Liquor
Mourning Visits

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
五
辛
丑

土
危
除

Fifth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: xinchou (38/60)

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

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
立嫁祭
約娶祀
交納祈
易采福
納理會
畜髮友
安掃出
葬舎行
喪三
九月四
 鬼土忌耗方

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Sweeping Rooms
Making Appointments
Trade and Commerce
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Three Mournings

Baleful Astral Influences

Four Squander-Squares
Lunar Taboo
Nine Ghost-Soils

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

Bifurcation, 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)

廚
厠 灶

Kitchen

Toilet, Stove