China's Lunar Calendar 2020 05-25

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/26...................................................5/23............Monthly Calendar Information

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. 

Solar Calendar Date 
廿
五
一期星

Fifth Month, Twenty-Fifth Day 
Monday, May 25
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)
陽福時
德生德

Timely Exemplarity
Fortunate Engenderment
Yang Exemplarity

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

凶吉吉
23:00-01:00 In-Between

01:00-03:00 Auspicious
03:00-05:00 Inauspicious
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 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

 ————

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

忌
進新置
水船產

Setting-up Production
New Boats
Entering Water

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
三
戊
辰

木
畢
閉

Third Day (Intercalary Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: wuchen (5/60)

Phase (element): Wood
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Net (19/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Closed (12/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

栽立祭
種約祀
搭交祈
厠易福
補安裁
垣牀衣
塞築合
穴堤帳
痕水
下血五
兀支虛

————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)
Linking Banners
Making Appointments
Trade and Commerce
Positioning Beds
Constructing Dikes
Planting and Cultivating
Building Toilets
Patching Embankments
Plugging Caves

Water Scar

Baleful Astral Influences

Five Voids
Blood Branch
Lower Amputee

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

Bifurcation, Water
————

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)

房
栖 牀

Edifice
Perch, Bed