China's Lunar Calendar 2020 08-12

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/18...............................................................................................................8/11

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

十
二

三期星

Eighth Month, Twelfth Day 
Wednesday August 12
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)
合月
日德

Lunar Exemplarity
Linked Days

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

吉吉凶
23:00-01:00 In-Between

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

07:00-09:00 In-Between
9:00-11:00 Inauspicious

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 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

 ————

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

忌
嫁理
娶髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Marriage Alliances

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
三
丁
亥

土
壁
平

Twenty-Third Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: dinghai (24/60)

Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Eastern Wall (14/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Level (4/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

移會
徙友
上出
樑行
牧裁
養衣
白
露
降
重月
日忌
————

Appropriate Activities

Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)
Moving Residences
Raising Beams
Raising Livestocks

White Dew Descends
(the thirty-eighth of seventy-two five-day lunar micro-periods on the agricultural calendar)

Baleful Astral Influences

Lunar Taboo
Doubled Days

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

White, Landmass
————

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)

倉
牀 庫

Granary
Bed, Storehouse