China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 03-27

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
4/3................................................................................................................................3/27

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

六期星

Third Month, Twenty-Seventh Day

Saturday, March 27

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

金六天月

堂合貴德

Lunar Exemplarity

Heavenly Nobility

Six Linkages

Golden Hall

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

中凶中

酉巳丑

凶吉吉

戌午寅

中凶吉

亥未卯

中凶吉

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00  Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

7:00-9:00 Inauspicious

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
修出開

倉財倉

Opening Granaries

Capital Outflow

Repairing Granaries

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

五

甲

戌

火

胃

危

Fifteenth Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: jiaxu (11/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Stomach (17/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

修移出祭

造徙行祀

動開訂祈

土市婚福

上交嫁求

樑易娶嗣

安納裁會

葬財衣友

將陰

天月月四

牢煞虛擊

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Seeking Inheritance

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Cash Payments

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Graves

Yin General

Baleful Astral Influences

Four Fisticuffs

Lunar Void

Lunar Balefulness

Heavenly Penitentiary

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

Bifurcation

————

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