China's Lunar Calendar 2020 12-12

 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)

十

二

六期星

Twelfth Month, Twelfth Day
Saturday, December 12
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不六歲

將合支

Generational Branch

Six Linkages

Not General

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

吉吉吉

酉巳丑

吉吉凶

戌午寅

中凶吉

亥未卯

凶凶吉

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Inauspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 In-Between

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

 ————

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

忌
行成除

喪服靈

Exorcising Spirits

Completing Clothing

Mourning Visits

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

八

己

丑

火

柳

除

Twenty-Eighth Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: jichou (26/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Willow (24/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜
動采祭

土理祀

安髮會

牀掃友

開舎出

倉醫行

庫病嫁

安開娶

葬市納

三無四

  喪祿祥不

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Sweeping Rooms

Physician Visits

Opening Markets

Moving Soil

Positioning Beds

Opening Granaries and Storehouses

Positioning Graves

Baleful Astral Influences

Four Auspicious-Nots

Without Emolument

Three Mournings

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

Bifurcation, Person
————

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)

占

厠 門

Divination

Toilet, Gate