China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 06-03

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/9..................................................................................................................................................6/2

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

日

四期星

Sixth Month, Third Day

Thursday, June 3

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

青聖德歲

龍心日支

Generational Branch

Exemplary Days

Sagacious Heart-Mind

Green-Blue Dragon

————

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

凶中凶

酉巳丑

中吉吉

戌午寅

中中吉

亥未卯

凶凶吉

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 In-Between

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

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
成除放開

服靈水渠

Opening Irrigation Sluices

Putting-into Water

Exorcising Spirits

Completing Clothing

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

三

壬

午

木

角

除

Twenty-Third Day Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: renwu (19/60)

Phase (element): Wood
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Horn (1/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

修開理祭

造市髮祀

動立醫祈

土約病福

上交裁會

樑易衣友

納納掃出

畜財舍行

喪復

咸月小

 池忌亡空

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Physician Treatments

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Sweeping Rooms

Opening Markets

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Cash Payments

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Livestock Payments

Returning Days

Baleful Astral Influences

Small Loss-Void

Lunar Taboo

Widespread Pond

————

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

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)

碓 庫 倉

Pestle, Storehouse, Granary