China's Lunar Calendar 2020 07-29

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/1...............................................................................................................7/25

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

廿
九

三期星

Seventh Month, Twenty-Ninth Day 
Wednesday July 29
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)
不除福
將神德

Fortunate Exemplarity
Exorcising Spirits
Not General

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

中凶凶
23:00-01:00 Auspicious

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

07:00-09:00 Auspicious
9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious
 13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

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
置針詞
產灸訟

Lawsuits and Litigation
Acupuncture and Moxibustion
Setting-up Production

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
九
癸
酉

金
軫
滿

Ninth Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: guiyou (10/60)

Phase (element): Metal
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Running Board (28/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

醞安祭
釀牀祀
成作嫁
服灶娶
除安裁
服門衣
安入掃
葬倉舎
離五
血灾大
 忌煞亡空

————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Marriage Alliances
Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)
Sweeping Rooms
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Positioning Gates
Entering Granaries
Fermenting Beverages
Completing Clothing
Discarding Clothing
Positioning Graves

Five Separations

Baleful Astral Influences

Great Loss-Void
Baleful Conflagration
Blood Taboo

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

Person, 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)

房
門 牀

Edifice
Gate, Bed