China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2020 01-21

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/25.........................................................................................................................1/18

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

一

四期星

First Month, Twenty-First Day

Thursday, January 21

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

三玉德歲

合堂日支

Generational Branch

Exemplary Days

Jade Hall

Three Linkages

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

吉中吉

酉巳丑

中中凶

戌午寅

中凶吉

亥未卯

凶凶中

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Inauspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 In-Between

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 In-Between

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

17:00-19:00 In-Between

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

 ————

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

忌
行成除遠

喪服零行

Distant Journeys

Exorcising Spirits

Completing Clothing

Three Linkages

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

九

己

巳

木

斗

定

Ninth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: jisi (6/60)

Phase (element): Wood
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Southern Ladle (8/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (6/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

作修移會

灶造居友

修動入訂

倉土宅婚

醞上立納

釀樑約采

納安交理

畜牀對髮

星長

復重厭死

日喪對氣

Appropriate Activities

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Patterning Hair

Moving Residences

Remaining at Home

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Cultivating

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Repairing Granaries

Fermenting Beverages

Livestock Payments

Long Star

Baleful Astral Influences

Death Vapor

Mutual Repression

Doubled Mourning

Returning Days

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

Bifurcation, Copse

————

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)

牀 門 占

Bed, Gate, Divination