China's Lunar Calendar 2020 03-21

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
廿
一
六期星

Third Month, Twenty-First Day 
Saturday, March 21

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天三母
喜合倉
Maternal Granary
Three Linkages
Heavenly Happiness

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

亥未卯
吉凶吉

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

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

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

 ————

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

忌
除嫁詞
服娶訟

Lawsuits and Litigation
Marriage Alliances
Discarding Clothing

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
八
癸
亥

水
女
成

Twenty-Eighth Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: guihai (60/60)

Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Maiden (10/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

安交祭
門易祀
作修入
灶造學
開動裁
渠土衣
栽上開
種梁市
日重
元無四
 武祿祥不

————

Appropriate Activities

 Venerating Ancestors
Entering Study
Cutting-out Clothing
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Gates
Stove Work
Opening Sluices
Planting and Cultivating

Doubled Days

Baleful Astral Influences

Four Auspicious-Nots
Without Emolument
Primal Martiality

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

Bifurcation

 ————

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)

占
牀 房

Divination
Bed, Edifice