China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 10-29

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
11/4.................................................................................................................................................10/28

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)

廿

九

五期星

Tenth Month, Twenty-Ninth Day

Friday, October 29

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天十麒

恩靈麟

Unicorn

Ten Spirits

Heavenly Kindness

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

吉凶凶

酉巳丑

中中吉

戌午寅

凶吉中

亥未卯

中凶中

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 In-Between

5:00-7:00 In-Between

7:00-9:00 Inauspicious

9:00-11:00 In-Between

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

17:00-19:00 In-Between

19:00-21:00 Inauspicious

21:00-23:00 In-Between

————

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

忌
行動結

喪土網

Binding Nets

Moving Soil

Mourning Visits

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

四

庚

戌

金

牛

建

Twenty-Fourth Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: genxu (47/60)

Phase (element): Metal
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Oxen (9/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Establish (1/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

苫移祭

蓋徙祀

搭納出

厠財行

牧竪赴

養株任

納上裁

畜梁衣

府土

月白三

建虎喪

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Going Out (and about)

Taking-up Office

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Moving Residences

Capital Outflow

Erecting Pillars

Raising Beams

Thatched Coverings

Building Toilets

Raising Livestock

Livestock Payments

Soil Palace

Baleful Astral Influences

Three Mournings

White Tiger

Lunar Establishment

————

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

白 天

White, Heaven

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

碓

栖 磨

Pestle

Perch, Mortar