China's Lunar Calendar 2020 08-13

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
三

四期星

Eighth Month, Thirteenth Day 
Thursday August 13
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)
民時合天
日德日德

Heavenly Exemplarity
Linked Days
Timely Exemplarity
Peopled Days

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

中中吉
23:00-01:00 In-Between

01:00-03:00 Auspicious
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 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 In-Between

 ————

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

忌
田問置買
獵卜業田

Purchasing Land
Setting-up Industry
Divinatory Inquiries
Field Venery (Hunting)

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
四
戊
子

火
奎
定

Twenty-Fourth Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: wuzi (25/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Astride (15/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

牀交婚祭
作易納祀
灶修采祈
修造嫁福
倉動娶會
醞土移友
釀上徙出
安樑開行
葬安市訂

陽死
將氣
————

Appropriate Activities

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

Baleful Astral Influences

Death Vapor
Yang General

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

White
————

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 牀 房

Pestle, Bed, Edifice