China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 09-30

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/5.................................................................................................................................................9/28

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)

三

十

四期星

Ninth Month, Thirtieth Day

Thursday, September 30

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

三歲合歲

合支日德

Generational Exemplarity

Linked Days

Generational Branch

Three Linkages

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

中中中

酉巳丑

凶吉吉

戌午寅

吉吉吉

亥未卯

凶凶凶

23:00-1:00 In-Between

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 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between

17:00-19:00 Inauspicious

19:00-21:00 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

————

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

忌
成遠造合

服行酒將

Mixing Sauces

Making Liquor

Distant Ramblings

Completing Clothing

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

四

辛

巳

金

斗

成

Twenty-Fourth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: xinsi (18/60)

Phase (element): Metal
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Southern Dipper (8/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

上移訂祭

樑徙婚祀

安開嫁祈

門市娶福

作交納入

灶易采學

開動裁會

渠土衣友

喪重

無朱復上

祿雀日兀

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Gates and Doors

Stove Work

Opening Irrigation Sluices

Doubled Mourning

Baleful Astral Influences

Upper Amputee

Returning Days

Vermilion Bird

Without Emolument

————

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

白 山

White, Mountain

————

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)

牀 灶 廚

Bed, Stove, Kitchen