China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 02-06

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
2/11........................................................................................................................2/4

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)

六

日

六期星

Second Month, Sixth Day

Saturday, February 6

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

陰三歲歲

德合支祿

Generational Emolument

Generational Branch

Three Linkages

Yin Exemplarity

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

凶吉吉

酉巳丑

吉凶吉

戌午寅

中中吉

亥未卯

中凶凶

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

7:00-9:00 Auspicious

9:00-11:00 Inauspicious

11:00-13:00 In-Between

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 In-Between

 ————

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

忌
合裁時栽

帳衣插種

Planting and Cultivating

Timely Injections

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Binding Sails

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

五

乙

酉

水

柳

危

Twenty-Fifth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: yiyou (22/60)

Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Willow (24/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

結安修祭

網牀造祀

成作動祈

服灶土福

除安竪理

服門柱髮

安開上掃

葬光樑舎

星短

俱天五下

將吏虛兀

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Sweeping Rooms

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Erecting Pillars

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Positioning Gates

Lighting Ceremonies

Binding Nets

Completing Clothing

Discarding Clothing

Positioning Graves

Short Star

Baleful Astral Influences

Lower Amputee

Five Voids

Heavenly Official

Everything General

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

White, 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)

門 磨 碓

Gate, Mortar, Pestle