China's Lunar Calendar 2020 03-29

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
4/5...............................................................................................................3/29

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
廿
九
日期星

Third Month, Twenty-Ninth Day 
Sunday, March 29

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

陰寶時三
德光陰合
Three Linkages
Timely Yin
Precious Rays
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
中中吉

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 In-Between

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

 ————

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

忌
行除造合
喪服酒醬

Mixing Sauces
Making Liquor
Discarding Clothing
Mourning Visits

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
六
辛
未

土
昂
定

Sixth Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: xinwei (8/60)

Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Pleiades (18/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

上開出祭
梁市行祀
作交嫁祈
灶易娶福
納修納入
畜造采學
安動移會
葬土徙友
將俱
復血死密
喪忌氣日

————

Appropriate Activities

 Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Stove Work
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Everything General

Baleful Astral Influences

Mysterious Days
Death Vapor
Blood Taboo
Repeat Mourning

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

Bifurcation, 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 灶 廚

Toilet, Stove, Kitchen