Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"
⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
12/27..........................................................................................................................12/20
12/27..........................................................................................................................12/20
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.
As for interpreting the translation, 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 (almost any "it" you will see). 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. And do not assume that people from China understand the traditional calendar particularly well, either. I have encountered confusion and furrowed brows for countless items in the calendar. It can seem "remote," in other words, from the world we live in these days, and yet it is printed anew every single year.
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)
廿
五
五期星
Twelfth Month, Twenty-Fourth Day
Thursday, December 24
————
Thursday, December 24
————
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
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left)
申辰甲
吉中中
酉巳丑
凶吉吉
戌午寅
中凶吉
亥未卯
吉凶吉
23:00-1:00 In-Between
1:00-3:00 Auspicious
3:00-5:00 Auspicious
5:00-7:00 Auspicious
7:00-9:00 Auspicious
9:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 Inauspicious
13:00-15:00 Inauspicious
15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
21:00-23:00 In-Between
————
Section Four
Activities to Avoid
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
忌
行造合
行造合
喪酒酒
Mixing Sauces
Making Liquor
Mourning Visits
Section Five
Cosmological Information
Cosmological Information
初
十
辛
丑
土
斗
除
Tenth Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: xinchou (38/60)
Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Southern Ladle (8/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Southern Ladle (8/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)
————
Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
醫嫁祭
病娶祀
栽納祈
種采福
納理會
畜髮友
安掃出
葬舎行
不債
天三九
瘟喪鬼土
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Patterning Hair
Sweeping Rooms
Physician Visits
Planting and Cultivating
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves
Debt Not
Baleful Astral Influences
Nine Ghost-Soils
Three Mournings
Heavenly Epidemic
Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese should be read right to left,
but the English translation is underneath each character)
人 人
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese should be read right to left,
but the English translation is underneath each character)
人 人
Person, 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)
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
厠 灶
Kitchen
Toilet, Stove
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