China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 08-20

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/20.................................................................................................................................................8/13

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)

二

十

五期星

Eighth Month, Twentieth Day

Friday, August 20

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

吉福六歲

龍生合支

Generational Branch

Six Linkages

Fortunate Engendering

Auspicious Dragon

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

吉中凶

酉巳丑

吉中吉

戌午寅

凶凶凶

亥未卯

中凶中

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

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 In-Between

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 Inauspicious

21:00-23:00 In-Between

————

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

忌
成除問結

服服卜網

Binding Nets

Divinatory Inquiries

Discarding Clothing

Completing Clothing

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

三

庚

子

土

鬼

定

Thirteenth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: gengzi (37/60)

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

安修會祭

牀造友祀

作動裁祈

灶土衣福

醞竪移求

釀柱徙嗣

納上開入

畜樑市學

喪重

復死俱上

日氣將兀

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Seeking Inheritance

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Cutting-out Clothing

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Erecting Pillars

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Fermenting Beverages

Livestock Payments

Doubled Mourning

Baleful Astral Influences

Upper Amputee

Everything General

Death Vapor

Repeated Days

————

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)

磨 碓 占

Mortar, Pestle, Divination