China's Lunar Calendar 2020 01-25 New Year's Day

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/28....................................1/25........................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
廿一年二二
五月    0  0
六期星

First Month, Twenty-Fifth Day 
Saturday, January 25

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不天福民三歲
將恩德日合支
Generational Branch
Three Linkages
 Peopled Days
Fortunate Exemplarity
Heavenly Kindness
Not General

————

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
吉凶凶

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 Inauspicious

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
苫栽開穿整理
蓋種池井甲髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Trimming Nails
Boring Wells
Opening Ponds
Planting and Cultivating
Thatched Coverings

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
一
丁
卯

火
女
滿

First Day (First Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dingmao (4/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Maiden (10/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
節春

Spring Festival

The Chinese text that follows is quite particular, and becomes near-gibberish in English; 

suffice to say that there are a series of "directional" images and advice for the new year. 
What follows is a taste of the rhetoric of the text:
Nobility Spirit: Northwest Direction
Wealth Spirit: Due West Direction
Burning Incense: Appropriate to Do
Zi, Chou, Yin, Chen Times All Appropriate
(and so forth)