China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 09-17

   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

七

四期星

Ninth Month, Seventeenth Day

Friday, September 17

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

敬不天

安將恩

Heavenly Kindness

Not General

Reverential Calm

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

吉中中

酉巳丑

吉吉吉

戌午寅

凶中凶

亥未卯

中凶凶

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Inauspicious

5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

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 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
補置買

塞業田

Purchasing Land

Setting-up Industry

Patching and Plugging

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

一

戊

辰

木

鬼

危

Eleventh Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: wuchen (5/60)

Phase (element): Wood
"Constellation Personality" Cycle:Ghost (23/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

社秋

————

宜

移裁祭

徙衣祀

上立入

樑約學

安交嫁

牀易娶

虛月

四天小

 擊刑亡空

Autumn Sociality

(a festival dating back to early times)

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Entering Study

Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Moving Residences

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Lunar Void

Baleful Astral Influences

Small Loss-Void

Heavenly Punishment

Four Fisticuffs

————

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

人 火

White, Fire

————

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)

房

栖 牀

Edifice

Perch, Bed