China's Lunar Calendar 2020 07-03

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
7/3............................................................................................................6/25

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

五期星

Seventh Month, Third Day 
Friday, July 3
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)
天六吉守
貴合期日

Protected Days
Auspicious Time-Slice
Six Linkages
Heavenly Nobility

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

吉吉凶
23:00-01:00 Inauspicious

01:00-03:00 Inauspicious
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 Auspicious

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

 ————

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

忌
行成除理
喪服靈髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Exorcising Spirits
Completing Clothing
Mourning Visits

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
三
丁
未

水
亢
除

Thirteenth Day (Fifth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dingwei (44/60)

Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Neck (2/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

安交嫁祭
牀易娶祀
作修納祈
灶造采福
修動移會
倉土徙友
納上開出
畜樑市行
日復
陰重三八
將喪喪專

————

Appropriate Activities

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

Returning Days

Baleful Astral Influences

Eight Specialties
Three Mournings
Repeat Mourning
Yin General

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

White, Copse
————

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