China's Lunar Calendar 2020 01-31

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
2/5..........................................................................................................1/29

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
卅
一
五期星

First Month, Thirty-First Day 
Friday, January 31

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天天三天
醫喜合貴
Heavenly Nobility
Three Linkages
Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician

————

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

亥未卯
中凶凶

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

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

 ————

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

忌
進新動詞
水船土訟

Lawsuits and Litigation
Moving Soil
New Boats
Entering Water

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
七
癸
酉

金
婁
成

Seventh Day (First Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: guiyou (10/60)

Phase (element): Metal
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Mound (16/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
醞移嫁入
釀徙娶學
牧開理出
養市髮行
成交掃訂
服易舎婚
安上醫納
葬梁病采
星長
俱地班水
將囊煞痕

————

Appropriate Activities
Entering Study
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Sweeping Rooms
Physician Treatments
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Raising Beams
Fermenting Beverages
Raising Livestock
Completing Clothing
Positioning Graves

Long Star


Baleful Astral Influences

Water Scar
Classified Balefulness
Earth Duffel (Dirt Bag)
Everything 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 牀 房

Gate, Bed, Edifice