China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 12-10

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
12/16.................................................................................................................................................12/9

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)

十

日

五期星

Twelfth Month, Tenth Day

Friday, December 10

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不臨時月

將日陰德

Lunar Exemplarity

Timely Yin

Entering Days

Not General

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

凶中中

酉巳丑

吉吉吉

戌午寅

凶凶吉

亥未卯

吉凶吉

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 Inauspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

忌
取田放開

魚獵水渠

Opening Irrigation Sluices

Putting-into Water

Field Venery (Hunting)

Garnering Piscinity (Fishing)

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

七

壬

辰

水

鬼

定

Seventh Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: renchen (29/60)

Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Ghost (23/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

作修訂祭

灶造婚祀

醞動嫁祈

釀土娶福

成竪裁求

服柱衣嗣

安上移會

葬樑徙友

痕水

天五四死

 牢墓祥不氣

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Seeking Inheritance

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Moving Residences

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Erecting Pillars

Raising Beams

Stove Work

Fermenting Beverages

Completing Clothing

Positioning Beds

Water Scar

Baleful Astral Influences

Death Vapor

Four Auspicious-Nots

Five Tombs

Heavenly Penitentiary

————

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

白

White

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

栖 庫 倉

Perch, Storehouse, Granary