China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 01-12

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/12..........................................................................................................................1/5

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)

十

二

二期星

First Month, Twelfth Day

Tuesday, January 12

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

月天歲歲

德德祿德

Generational Exemplarity

Generational Emolument

Heavenly Exemplarity

Lunar Exemplarity

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

吉吉凶

酉巳丑

中吉吉

戌午寅

凶凶凶

亥未卯

中凶中

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Inauspicious

5:00-7:00 In-Between

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 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
取天安結

魚獵牀網

Binding Nets

Positioning Beds

Field Venery (Go'in Huntin')

Garnering Piscinity (Go'in Fishin')

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

九

庚

申

翌

危

Twenty-Ninth Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: gengshen (57/60)

Phase (element): Wood
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Wings (27/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

上開裁結

樑市衣網

作交移祈

灶易徙福

納修理會

畜造髮友

安動掃出

葬土舎行

將陽

遊八五猴

禍專離口

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Cutting-out Clothing

Moving Residences

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Sweeping Rooms

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Stove Work

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves

Yang General

Baleful Astral Influences

Monkey Mouth

Five Separations

Eight Specialties

Natatorial Disaster

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

White, Fire
————

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)

盧 磨 碓

Furnace, Mortar, Pestle