China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 11-26

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
12/3...................................................................................................................................................11/26

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

五期星

Eleventh Month, Twenty-Sixth Day

Friday, November 26

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

相金時

日堂德

Timely Exemplarity

Golden Hall

Facing Days

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

凶吉中

酉巳丑

中凶吉

戌午寅

中吉凶

亥未卯

中凶吉

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Inauspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 Auspicious

9:00-11:00 Inauspicious

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 In-Between

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 In-Between

————

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

忌
動祭置

土祀產

Setting-up Production

Venerating Ancestors

Moving Soil

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

二

戊

寅

土

牛

平

Twenty-Second Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: wuyin (15/60)

Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Oxen (9/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Level (4/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

竪裁會

柱衣友

上移出

樑徙行

牧開嫁

養市娶

安交納

葬易采

囊地

河五上

魁虛兀

Appropriate Activities

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Erecting Pillars

Raising Beams

Raising Livestock

Positioning Graves

Earth Duffel (Dirt Bag)

Baleful Astral Influences

Upper Amputee

Five Voids

River Stalwart

————

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

人 鬼

Person, Ghost

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

房

爐 牀

Edifice

Furnace, Bed