China's Lunar Calendar 2020 10-04

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/7..............................................................................................................9/30

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

四
日

日期星

Tenth Month, Fourth Day
Sunday, October 4
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)
月歲三歲
德德合支

Generational Branch
Three Linkages
Generational Exemplarity
Lunar Exemplarity

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

吉吉凶
23:00-01:00 Inauspicious

01:00-03:00 Auspicious
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 Auspicious

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

19:00-21:00 Inauspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

 ————

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

忌
合裁結經
帳衣網絡

Energy Channels
Binding Nets
Cutting-out Clothing
Linking Sails

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
八
庚
辰

金
虛
危

Eighteenth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: gengchen (17/60)

Phase (element): Metal
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Void (11/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
作修嫁祭
灶造娶祀
栽動納祈
種土采福
納上移會
畜樑徙友
安安開出
葬牀市行
星短
陰天月密
將刑煞日
————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Planting and Cultivating
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Short Star

Baleful Astral Influences

Mysterious Days
Lunar Balefulness
Heavenly Punishment
Yin General

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

White, Fire
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items 
(the Chinese should be read top-to-bottom, and right-to-left;
the English translation is under the bottom of each character)

栖 磨 碓

Perch, Mortar, Pestle