China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 01-13

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/17.................................................1/13.................Monthly Calendar Information

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

三

三期星

First Month, Thirteenth Day

Wednesday, January 13

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

月天天母

恩醫喜倉

Maternal Granary

Heavenly Happiness

Heavenly Physician

Lunar Kindness

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

中吉中

酉巳丑

凶吉中

戌午寅

中凶吉

亥未卯

中凶凶

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 In-Between

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

7:00-9:00 Auspicious

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between

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
進新造合

水船酒醬

Mixing Sauces

Making Liquor

New Boats

Entering Water

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

一

辛

酉

木

軫

成

First Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: xinyou (58/60)

Phase (element): Wood
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Running Board (28/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

動掃嫁祭

土舎娶祀

上開納祈

樑市采福

納交移入

櫥易徙學

安修理出

葬造髮行

煞班

陽四水下

將耗痕兀

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Entering Study

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Moving Residences

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Sweeping Rooms

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Cultivating

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves

Classified Balefulness

Baleful Astral Influences

Lower Amputee

Water Scar

Four Squanders

Yang General

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

White, Mountain
————

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)

門 灶 廚

Gate, Stove, Kitchen