China's Lunar Calendar 2020 11-29

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
12/06................................................................................................................................11/29

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

九

日期星

Eleventh Month, Twenty-Ninth Day
Sunday, November 29
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天吉官

馬期日

Official Days

Auspicious Time-Slice

Heavenly Equinity

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰甲

中凶吉

酉巳丑

吉凶吉

戌午寅

吉凶中

亥未卯

吉中中

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 In-Between

5:00-7:00 In-Between

7:00-9:00 Inauspicious

9:00-11:00 Inauspicious

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious

13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 In-Between

17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

 ————

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

忌
除作修

服灶廚

Repairing Kitchens

Stove Work

Discarding Clothing

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

五

丙

子

水

虛

除

Fifteenth Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: bingzi (13/60)

Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Void (11/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

元下

————

宜

上移出

樑徙行

安理訂

牀髮婚

安開裁

葬市衣

池咸

復伏暗

喪斷金

————

Later Primacy (Xia Yuan Festival)

(a traditional festival celebrated on the full moon of the tenth lunar month)

Appropriate Activities

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Moving Residences

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Opening Markets

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Positioning Graves

Widespread Pond

Baleful Astral Influences

Dark Metal

Prostrate Severance

Repeat Mourning

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

Bifurcation, 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)

廚

碓 灶

Kitchen

Pestle, Stove