China's Lunar Calendar 2020 12-27

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
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.

                                                       Section One    

                                                Solar Calendar Date

(top to bottom, right to left)

廿

七

日期星

Twelfth Month, Twenty-Seventh Day
Sunday, December 27
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十月三歲

靈恩合支

Generational Branch

Three Linkages

Lunar Kindness

Ten Spirits

————

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

中吉吉

酉巳丑

吉中吉

戌午寅

凶凶吉

亥未卯

吉吉中

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 In-Between

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 In-Between

17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 Inauspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

 ————

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

忌
時栽出開

插種財倉

Opening Granaries

Capital Outflow

Planting and Cultivating

Timely Injections

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

三

甲

辰

火

虛

定

Thirteenth Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: jiachen (41/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Void (11/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

上開嫁祭

樑市娶祀

安交納祈

牀易采福

作修裁會

灶造衣友

安動移出

葬土徙行

氣死

陰無密天

將祿日廢

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Positioning Graves

Death Vapor

Baleful Astral Influences

Heavenly Abandon-Repose

Mysterious Days

Without Emolument

Yin General

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

White
————

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 碓 門

Perch, Pestle, Gate