China's Lunar Calendar 2020 01-07

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/7..............................................................................................................12/31

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
七
日
二期星

First Month, Seventh Day 
Tuesday, January 7

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

進天合歲
神喜日德
Generational Exemplarity

Linked Days

Heavenly Happiness

Entering Spirits

————

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

亥未卯
凶凶凶

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

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

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

 ————

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

忌
行成除詞
喪服靈訟

Lawsuits and Litigation
Exorcising Spirits
Completing Clothing
Mourning Visits

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
三
己
酉

土
觜
成
Thirteenth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiyou (46/60)

Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Beak of the Turtle (20/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
動掃納祭
土舎采祀
上開裁入
樑 市衣學
修交移出
倉易徙行
醞修理嫁
釀造髮娶
日復
陽重班五
將喪煞離

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Entering Study
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair
Sweeping Rooms
Opening Markets 
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Cultivating
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Repairing Granaries
Fermenting Beverages

Repeated Days

Baleful Astral Influences

Five Separations
Classified Balefulness
Repeat Mourning
Yang General

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

White, Mountain

 ————

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)

門 大 占

Gate, Great, Divination