China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 05-26

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/1..................................................................................................................................................5/25

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

六

三期星

Fifth Month, Twenty-Sixth Day

Wednesday, May 26

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

玉金解不

宇匱神將

Not General

Exorcising Spirits

Golden Cupboard

Jade Universe

————

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

中凶中

酉巳丑

中吉吉

戌午寅

中凶吉

亥未卯

凶凶吉

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

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 In-Between

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

————

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

忌
作修出開

灶廚財倉

Opening Granaries

Capital Outflow

Repairing Kitchens

Stove Work

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

五

甲

戌

火

參

執

Fifteenth Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: jiaxu (11/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Gathering (21/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

食月

復食初食

圓甚虧分

戌戌酉十

正初初分

刻刻刻十

九五一秒

分分分    

死草靡

死朱伏月

氣雀斷忌

Moon Consumed

(Full Lunar Eclipse)

Beginning: At the beginning of the you hour

Full Eclipse: At the beginning of the xu hour.

Ending: Precisely at the midpoint of the xu hour

Appropriate Activities

None Listed Today

Waving Grasses Wither

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

Baleful Astral Influences

Fire Star

Small Squander

Heavenly Thief

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese should be read right to left）

丫 地

Bifurcation, Earth

————

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