Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"
⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
12/14.......................................................................................................................12/7
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.
Solar Calendar Date
(top to bottom, right to left)
十
三
日期星
Twelfth Month, Thirteenth Day
Sunday, December 13
————
Sunday, December 13
————
Section Two
Beneficent Stars
(top to bottom, right to left)
十歲歲
靈馬德
Generational Exemplarity
Generational Equinitiy
Ten Spirits
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left)
申辰甲
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left)
申辰甲
凶吉凶
酉巳丑
中中吉
戌午寅
凶凶吉
亥未卯
中吉吉
23:00-1:00 Inauspicious
1:00-3:00 Auspicious
3:00-5:00 Auspicious
5:00-7:00 Auspicious
7:00-9:00 Auspicious
9:00-11:00 In-Between
11:00-13:00 Inauspicious
13:00-15:00 Auspicious
15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
21:00-23:00 In-Between
————
Section Four
Activities to Avoid
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
忌
祈祭結
祈祭結
福祀網
Binding Nets
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Section Five
Cosmological Information
Cosmological Information
廿
九
庚
寅
木
星
滿
Twenty-Ninth Day (Tenth Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: gengyin (27/60)
Phase (element): Wood
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Asterism (25/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Asterism (25/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)
————
Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
上開會
上開會
樑市友
補交出
塞易行
除修嫁
服造娶
安動納
葬土采
忌歸
五孤大
虛辰亡空
Appropriate Activities
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Patching and Plugging
Discarding Clothing
Positioning Graves
Return Taboo
Baleful Astral Influences
Great Loss-Vacancy
Orphan Dawn
Five Voids
Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese should be read right to left,
but the English translation is underneath each character)
丫 人
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese should be read right to left,
but the English translation is underneath each character)
丫 人
White, Water
————
————
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)
碓
盧 磨
Pestle
Furnace, Mortar
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