China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 09-14

 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

四

二期星

Ninth Month, Fourteenth Day

Tuesday, September 14

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

母天合月

倉恩日德

Lunar Exemplarity

Linked Days

Heavenly Kindness

Maternal Granary

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

中中吉

亥未卯

中凶凶

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

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 In-Between

21:00-23:00 In-Between

————

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

忌
成除蒔栽

服服插種

Planting and Cultivating 

Timely Injections

Discarding Clothing

Completing Clothing

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

八

乙

丑

金

觜

定

Eighth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: yichou (2/60)

Phase (element): Metal
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Beak of the Turtle (20/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

作交嫁祭

灶易娶祀

安修納祈

牀造采福

入動移會

宅土徙友

醞上開出

釀樑市行

喪復

死俱牛下

氣將口兀

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Stove Work

Positioning Beds

Entering Residences (or Staying Home)

Fermenting Beverages

Return Mourning

Baleful Astral Influences

Lower Amputee

Ox Orifice

Everything General

Death Vapor

————

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

人 林

Person, Copse

————

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)

厠 磨 碓

Toilet, Mortar, Pestle