China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 11-09

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
11/9..........................................................................11/5............................Monthly Calendar Information

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)

九

日

二期星

Eleventh Month, Ninth Day

Tuesday, November 9

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

歲合歲

祿日德

Generational Exemplarity

Linked Days

Generational Emolument

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

中吉中

酉巳丑

凶凶中

戌午寅

中吉吉

亥未卯

中凶凶

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 In-Between

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

7:00-9:00 Auspicious

9:00-11:00 Inauspicious

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 In-Between

21:00-23:00 In-Between

————

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

忌
補造合

塞酒醬

Mixing Sauces

Making Liquor

Patching and Plugging

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

五

辛

酉

木

觜

開

Fifth Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: xinyou (58/60)

Phase (element): Wood
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Beak of the Turtle (20/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

竪求入

株醫學

上治出

樑病行

作修理

灶造髮

交動掃

交土舍

煞班

陽伏月

將斷忌

Appropriate Activities

Entering Study

Going Out (and about)

Patterning Hair

Sweeping Rooms

Seeking Physicians

Treating Illness

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Earth

Erecting Pillars

Raising Beams

Stove Work

Trade and Commerce

Classified Balefulness

Baleful Astral Influences

Lunar Taboo

Prostrate Severance

Yang General

————

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

丫 林

Bifurcation, Copse

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

廚

門 灶

Kitchen

Gate, Stove