China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 09-11

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/18............................................................................................................................................9/11

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)

十

一

六期星

Ninth Month, Eleventh Day

Saturday, September 11

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

吉四母鳳

期相倉凰

Phoenix

Maternal Granary

Four Facings

Auspicious Time-Slice

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

凶凶中

酉巳丑

中吉中

戌午寅

吉中吉

亥未卯

吉凶凶

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 In-Between

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

7:00-9:00 Inauspicious

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 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

初

五

壬

戌

水

胃

除

Fifth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: renchen (59/60)

Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Stomach (17/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

安掃祭

門舍祀

安動祈

牀土福

補上出

垣樑行

塞建理

穴屋髮

喪三

血陽長水

忌將星痕

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Going Out (and about)

Patterning Hair

Sweeping Rooms

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Establishing Rooms

Positioning Gates and Doors

Positioning Beds

Embellishing Embankments

Plugging Caves

Three Mournings

Baleful Astral Influences

Water Scar

Long Star

Yang General

Blood Taboo

————

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

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 庫 倉

Perch, Storehouse, Granary