China's Lunar Calendar 2020 05-07

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/14..........................................................................................................5/7

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
七
日
四期星

Fifth Month, Seventh Day 
Thursday, May 7

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十金月歲
靈匱德德
Generational Exemplaritiy
Lunar Exemplarity
Golden Cupboard
Ten Spirits

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

凶吉中
23:00-01:00 Inauspicious

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

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

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

 ————

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

忌
修作修結
倉灶廚網

Binding Nets
Repairing Kitchens
Stove Work
Repairing Granaries

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
五
庚
戌

金
角
執

Fifteenth Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengxu (47/60)

Phase (element): Metal
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Horn (1/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

安理納祭
牀髮采祀
栽修嫁祈
種造娶福
成動裁會
服土衣友
安上移訂
葬樑徙婚
星火
陰小下小
 將耗兀亡空

————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payment
Marriage Alliances
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair
Repairing and Cultivating
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Planting and Cultivating
Completing Clothing
Positioning Graves

Fire Asterism

Baleful Astral Influences

Small Loss-Void
Lower Amputee
Small Squander
Yin General

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

Bifurcation, Earth
————

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)

栖 磨 碓

Perch, Mortar, Pestle