China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 09-26

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/27............................................................................................................................................9/19

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)

廿

六

日期星

Ninth Month, Twenty-Sixth Day

Sunday, September 26

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

神金時母

在堂陰倉

Maternal Granary

Timely Yin

Golden Hall

Spirits In-Place

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

中中吉

酉巳丑

吉吉中

戌午寅

中吉中

亥未卯

吉凶凶

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 In-Between

3:00-5:00 In-Between

5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between

17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

忌
足整栽理

甲手種髮

Patterning Hair

Planting and Cultivating

Manicures and Pedicures

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

二

十

丁

丑

水

房

定

Twentieth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: dingchou (14/60)

Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Edifice (4//28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

安修納出

門造采行

作動裁會

灶土衣友

成上開訂

服樑市婚

安修交嫁

葬倉易娶

將俱

死勾牛下

氣陳口兀

Appropriate Activities

Going Out (and about)

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Repairing Granaries

Positioning Gates and Doors

Stove Work

Completing Clothing

Positioning Graves

Everything General

Baleful Astral Influences

Lower Amputee

Ox Orifice

Narrative Hook

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 庫 倉

Toilet, Storehouse, Granary