China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 12-16

 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

六

四期星

Twelfth Month, Sixteenth Day

Thursday, December 16

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

吉生時

神氣陽

Timely Yang

Engendered Vapor

Auspicious Spirits

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

吉凶中

酉巳丑

中中吉

戌午寅

中凶凶

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 Inauspicious

9:00-11:00 In-Between

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

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
補置買

寡業田

Purchasing Land

Setting-up Industry

Patching and Plugging

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

三

戊

戌

木

角

開

Thirteenth Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: wuxu (35/60)

Phase (element): Wood
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Horn (1/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

動訂祭

土婚祀

上裁祈

樑衣福

開理入

渠髮學

穿開會

井市友

將俱

寡五天

宿虛刑

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Cutting-out Clothing

Patterning Hair

Opening Markets

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Opening Irrigation Sluices

Boring Wells

Everything General 

Baleful Astral Influences

Heavenly Punishment

Five Voids

Orphan Hostel

————

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

白 火

White, Fire

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

房

栖 牀

Edifice

Perch, Bed