China's Lunar Calendar 2020 03-17

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/23..........................................................................................................3/16

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
十
七
二期星

Third Month, Seventeenth Day 
Tuesday, March 17

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

陰續合月
德世日德
Lunar Exemplarity
Linked Days
Continuing Eras
Yin Exemplarity

————

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

亥未卯
凶吉吉

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

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

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

 ————

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

忌
取田穿針
魚獵耳灸

Acupuncture and Moxibustion
Boring Ears (Ear Cleaning)
Field Venery (Hunting)
Garnering Piscinity (Fishing)

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
四
己
未

火
尾

定

Twenty-Fourth Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiwei (56/60)

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
作交訂祭
灶易婚祀
修修裁祈
倉造衣福
醞動移會
釀 土徙友
安上開出
葬梁市行
氣死
陽木血八
將馬忌專

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Stove Work
Repairing Granaries
Fermenting Beverages
Positioning Graves

Death Vapor

Baleful Astral Influences

Eight Specialties
Blood Branch
Wooden Horse
Yang 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)

厠 門 占

Toilet, Gate, Divination