China's Lunar Calendar 2020 12-09

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
12/14.......................................................................................................................12/7

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

(top to bottom, right to left)

九

日

三期星

Twelfth Month, Ninth Day
Wednesday, December 9
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

神月生時

在空氣陽

Timely Yang

Engendered Vapor

Lunar Vacancy

Spirits In-place

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

吉凶吉

酉巳丑

吉吉中

戌午寅

吉凶吉

亥未卯

吉中吉

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 In-Between

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 Inauspicious

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious

13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

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
塞補作修

穴垣灶廚

Repairing Kitchens

Stove Work

Patching Embankments

Plugging Caves

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

五

丙

戌

土

參

開

Twenty-Fifth Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: bingxu (23/60)

Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Gathering (21/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

開動會祭

渠土友祀

穿上訂祈

井樑婚福

栽安裁求

種門衣嗣

牧置修入

養產造學

兀上

俱天五小

  將刑虛亡空

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Seeking Appointment

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Cutting-out Clothing

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Gates

Setting-up Production

Opening Sluices

Boring Wells

Planting and Cultivating

Raising Livestock

Upper Amputee

Baleful Astral Influences

Small Loss-Vacancy

Five Voids

Heavenly Punishment

Everything 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 灶 廚

Perch, Stove, Kitchen