China's Lunar Calendar 2020 08-18

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
八

二期星

Eighth Month, Eighteenth Day
Tuesday August 18
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)
天德歲
德日支

Generational Branch
Exemplary Days
Heavenly Exemplarity

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

 凶凶吉
23:00-01:00 Auspicious

01:00-03:00 In-Between
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 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between

19:00-21:00 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

 ————

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

忌
除遠詞
服行訟

Lawsuits and Litigation
Distant Journeys
Discarding Clothing

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
九
癸
巳

水
觜
收

Twenty-Ninth Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: guisi (30/60)

Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Beak of the Turtle (20/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Receive (10/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
上納祭
樑采祀
安移祈
牀徙福
栽開會
種市友
醞動嫁
釀土娶
日重
河劫上
魁煞兀

————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Planting and Cultivating
Fermenting Beverages

Doubled Days

Baleful Astral Influences

Upper Amputee
Plundered Balefulness
River Stalwart

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

White, Spirit
————

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)

占
牀 房

Divination
Bed, Edifice