China's Lunar Calendar 2020 07-20

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
7/20............................................................................................................7/12

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

二
十

一期星

Seventh Month, Twentieth Day 
Monday, July 20
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)
天進月天
恩神德德

Heavenly Exemplarity
Lunar Exemplarity
Entering Spirits
Heavenly Kindness

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

中吉中
23:00-01:00 Auspicious

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

07:00-09:00 Auspicious
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 In-Between
21:00-23:00 In-Between

 ————

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

忌
進新出開
水船財倉

Opening Granaries
Capital Outflow
New Boats
Entering Water

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

三
十
甲
子

金
畢
執

Thirtieth Day (Fifth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiazi (1/60)

Phase (element): Metal
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Net (19/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
事用王土
————
宜

安修嫁祭
牀造娶祀
捕動納會
捉土采友
安上理出
葬樑髮行
痕水
上歸咸小
 兀忌池亡空

————

Earth King Usage Matters
(a way of marking the year into five, seventy-two day segments)

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Seizing and Capturing
Positioning Graves

Water Scar

Baleful Astral Influences

Small Loss-Void
Widespread Pond
Return Taboo
Upper Amputee

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

White, 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)

碓 門 占

Pestle, Gate, Divination