China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 12-22

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
12/25...........................................................................................................................12/17

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

二

三期星

Twelfth Month, Twenty-Second Day

Wednesday, December 22

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十聖四月

靈心相恩

Lunar Exemplarity

Four Facings

Sagely Heart-Mind

Ten Spirits

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

中吉吉

酉巳丑

吉中吉

戌午寅

凶凶吉

亥未卯

吉凶中

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 In-Between

7:00-9:00 Auspicious

9:00-11:00 In-Between

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between

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
蒔栽出開

插種財倉

Opening Granaries

Capital Outflow

Planting and Cultivating

Timely Injections

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

九

甲

辰

火

箕

定

Nineteenth Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: jiachen (41/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Winnowing Basket (7/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

動訂祭

土婚祀

上嫁祈

樑娶福

納裁會

畜衣友

安納出

葬采行

不債

無四陰

祿祥不將

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing

Grain Payments

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves

Debt Not

Baleful Astral Influences

Yin General

Four Auspicious-Nots

Without Emolument

————

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

白

White

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

栖 碓 門

Perch, Mortar, Gate