Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"
⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
11/28..................................................................................................................11/20
11/28..................................................................................................................11/20
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
廿
七
五期星
Eleventh Month, Twenty-Seventh Day
Friday, November 27
————
Friday, November 27
————
Section Two
Beneficent Stars
(top to bottom, right to left)
四月
相德
Lunar Exemplarity
Four Facings
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left)
申辰子
中凶中
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left)
申辰子
中凶中
酉巳丑
中凶吉
中凶吉
戌午寅
中凶吉
中凶吉
亥未卯
中吉吉
23:00-01:00 In-Between
01:00-03:00 Auspicious
03:00-05:00 Auspicious
05:00-07:00 Auspicious
07:00-09:00 Inauspicious
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 In-Between
19:00-21:00 In-Between
21:00-23:00 In-Between
03:00-05:00 Auspicious
05:00-07:00 Auspicious
07:00-09:00 Inauspicious
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 In-Between
19:00-21:00 In-Between
21:00-23:00 In-Between
————
Section Four
Activities to Avoid
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
忌
出開
出開
財倉
Opening Granaries
Capital Outflow
Section Five
Cosmological Information
Cosmological Information
十
三
甲
戌
火
牛
閉
Thirteenth Day (Tenth Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: jiaxu (11/60)
Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Oxen (9/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Closed (12/12)
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Oxen (9/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Closed (12/12)
————
Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
祭
祀
安
牀
補
塞
————
天
氣
上
藤
地
氣
下
降
————
火上
星兀
————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Positioning Beds
Patching and Plugging
Heaven's Vapors Rise; Earth's Vapors Recede and Fall
(the fifty-ninth of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods on the agricultural calendar)
Baleful Astral Influences
Upper Amputee
Fire Asterism
Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese should be read right to left,
but the English translation is underneath each character)
白 地
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese should be read right to left,
but the English translation is underneath each character)
白 地
White, Earth
————
————
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)
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
栖 碓
Gate
Perch, Pestle
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