China's Lunar Calendar 2020 10-15

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/16..............................................................................................................10/8

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
五

四期星

Tenth Month, Fifteenth Day
Thursday, October 15
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)
不德天麒
將合月麟

Unicorn
Heavenly Lunarity
Exemplary Linkage
Not General

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

中中吉
23:00-01:00 In-Between

01:00-03:00 In-Between
03:00-05:00 Auspicious
05:00-07:00 Auspicious

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

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious
 13:00-15:00 In-Between

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

19:00-21:00 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 In-Between

 ————

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

忌
開穿造合
池井灸醬

Mixing Sauces
Fermenting Beverages
Boring Wells
Opening Ponds

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
九
辛
卯

木
井
執

Twenty-Ninth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: xinmao (28/60)

Phase (element): Wood
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Well (22/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  
(top-to-bottom; right to left)    

宜
動醫出祭
土病行祀
上開嫁祈
樑市娶福
作交納入
灶易裁學
安修移會
葬造徙友
虛五
大咸下小
敗池兀耗
————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Physician Visits
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Cultivating
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Stove Work
Positioning Graves

Five Voids

Baleful Astral Influences

Small Squander
Lower Amputee
Widespread Pond
Great Defeat

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

White, Mountain
————

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)

門 灶 廚

Gate, Stove, Kitchen