China's Lunar Calendar 2020 06-03

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/3..............................................................................................................5/27

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

三

日
三期星

Sixth Month, Third Day 
Wednesday, June 3
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)
天天六歲
醫喜合支

Generational Branch
Six Linkages
Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician

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

凶凶凶
23:00-01:00 Auspicious

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

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

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

 ————

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

忌
進新整理
水船甲髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Trimming Nails
New Boats
Entering Water

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
二
丁
丑

水
軫
成

Twelfth Day (Intercalary Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dingchou (14/60)

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

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

作修納入
灶造采學
修動醫會
倉土病友
醞上開出
釀樑市行
安安交訂
葬門易婚
忌歸
厭四牛水
對擊口痕

————

Appropriate Activities

Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Physician Visits
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Gates
Stove Work
Repairing Granaries
Fermenting Beverages
Positioning Graves

Return Taboo

Baleful Astral Influences

Water Scar
Ox Orifice
Four Fisticuffs
Mutual Repression

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

White, Mountain
————

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 庫 倉

Toilet, Storehouse, Granary