China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 04-30

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/3........................................................................................................................................4/25

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)

三

十

五期星

Fourth Month, Thirtieth Day

Friday, April 30

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

時臨三金

陰日合匱

Golden Cupboard

Three Linkages

Entering Days

Timely Yin

————

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

吉吉中

酉巳丑

中吉吉

戌午寅

凶中凶

亥未卯

中凶中

23:00-1:00 In-Between

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 In-Between

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
行除安置

喪服牀產

Setting-up Production

Positioning Beds

Discarding Clothing

Mourning Visits

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

九

戊

申

土

鬼

定

Nineteenth Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: wushen (45/60)

Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Ghost (23/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

理祭

髮祀

安祈

碓福

安裁

門衣

納合

畜帳

桑於降勝戴

復下債

喪兀不

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Linking Sails

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Positioning Pestles

Positioning Gates

Livestock Payments

Hoopoe Alight in Mulberry

(the eighteenth of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods on the agricultural calendar)

Baleful Astral Influences

Debt not

Lower Amputee

Return Morning

————

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

White

————

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)

爐 牀 房

Furnace, Bed, Edifice

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 04-29

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/3........................................................................................................................................4/25

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

九

四期星

Fourth Month, Twenty-Ninth Day

Thursday, April 29

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

德天

合月

Heavenly Lunarity

Exemplary Linkage

————

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

中中中

酉巳丑

中吉凶

戌午寅

凶吉中

亥未卯

吉凶凶

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 Inauspicious

3:00-5:00 In-Between

5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between

17:00-19:00 In-Between

19:00-21:00 Inauspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

忌
整理

甲髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Trimming Nails

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

八

丁

未

水

井

平

Eighteenth Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: dingwei (44/60)

Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Well (22/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Level (4/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

拆

卸

掃

舎

月歲

煞破

月天

虛罡

Appropriate Activities

Unhitching and Unloading

Sweeping Rooms

Baleful Astral Influences

Generational Destruction

Heavenly Dipper

Lunar Balefulness

Lunar Void

————

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

White, Landmass

————

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)

倉

厠 庫

Granary

Toilet, Storehouse

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 04-28

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/3........................................................................................................................................4/25

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

八

三期星

Fourth Month, Twenty-Eighth Day

Wednesday, April 28

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

月歲

空德

Generational Exemplarity

Lunar Vacancy

————

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

吉凶凶

酉巳丑

吉吉中

戌午寅

凶吉中

亥未卯

吉凶中

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

1:00-3:00 In-Between

3:00-5:00 In-Between

5:00-7:00 In-Between

7:00-9:00 Inauspicious

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 Inauspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

忌
作修

灶廚

Repairing Kitchens

Stove Work

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

七

丙

午

水

參

滿

Seventeenth Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: bingwu (43/60)

Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Gathering (21/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

祭

祀

嫁

娶

成

服

安

葬

上水

兀痕

天陽

刑將

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Marriage Alliances

Completing Clothing

Positioning Graves

Baleful Astral Influences

Water Scar

Yang General

Upper Amputee

Heavenly Punishment

————

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

Bifurcation, Water

————

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)

廚

碓 灶

Kitchen

Pestle, Stove

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 04-27

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/3........................................................................................................................................4/25

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

二期星

Fourth Month, Twenty-Seventh Day

Tuesday, April 27

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

三歲

合支

Generational Branch

Three Linkages

————

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

吉中吉

酉巳丑

吉凶吉

戌午寅

凶中中

亥未卯

凶凶中

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 In-Between

5:00-7:00 In-Between

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 Inauspicious

11:00-13:00 In-Between

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 Inauspicious

21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

————

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

忌
成栽

服種

Planting and Cultivating

Completing Clothing

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

六

乙

巳

火

觜

除

Sixteenth Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: yisi (42/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Beak of the Turtle (20/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

理

髮

掃

舍

短上

星朔

劫重

煞日

Appropriate Activities

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Sweeping Rooms

Baleful Astral Influences

Upper Decade

Doubled Days

Short Star

Plundered Balefulness

————

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

Bifurcation, 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)

碓

牀 磨

Pestle

Bed, Mortar