China's Lunar Calendar 2020 08-03

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/10...............................................................................................................8/2

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

一期星

Eighth Month, Third Day 
Monday August 3
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)
五金母歲
富匱倉馬

Generational Equinity
Maternal Granary 
Golden Cupboard
Five Abundances

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

中吉吉
23:00-01:00 In-Between

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

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
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
祈祭置買
福祀業田

Purchasing Land
Setting-up Industry
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
四
戊
寅

土
心
危

Fourteenth Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: wuyin (15/60)

Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Heart-Mind (5/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

安交納會
牀易采友
作修裁出
灶造衣行
栽動移赴
種土徙任
納上開訂
畜樑市婚
喪復
陽游刀月
將禍砧忌
————

Appropriate Activities

Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Assuming Office
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Planting and Cultivating
Livestock Payments

Repeat Mourning

Baleful Astral Influences

Lunar Taboo
Sword Anvil
Natatorial Disaster
Yang General

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

Bifurcation
————

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)

爐 牀 房

Furnace, Bed, Edifice