China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 01-31

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/31........................................................................................................................................1/25

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 o

f 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)

卅

一

一期星

First Month, Thirty-First Day

Monday, January 31

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

鳳月陽母

凰空德倉

Maternal Granary

Yang Exemplarity

Lunar Vacancy

Phoenix

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

吉吉吉

酉巳丑

吉吉吉

戌午寅

中凶凶

亥未卯

中凶中

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Inauspicious

5:00-7:00 In-Between

7:00-9:00 Auspicious

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 In-Between

————

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

忌
安出開

牀財倉

Opening Granaries

Capital Outflow

Positioning Beds

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

九

甲

申

水

畢

危

Twenty-Ninth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: jiashen (21//60)

Phase (element): Water

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Net (19/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

土徙祭

上掃祀

樑舍祈

作宇福

灶開出

栽市行

種納理

安財髮

葬動移

俱游五

將禍離

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Going Out (and about)

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Moving Residences

Sweeping Rooms

[Universal]

Opening Markets

Cash Payments

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Stove Work

Planting and Cultivating

Positioning Graves

Baleful Asterisms

Five Separations

Natatorial Disaster

Everything General

————

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

白 火

White, Fire

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

爐 門 占

Furnace, Gate, Divination

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 01-30

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/31........................................................................................................................................1/25

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 o

f 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)

三

十

日期星

First Month, Thirtieth Day

Sunday, January 30

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

普天

護恩

Heavenly Kindness

Universal Protection

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

中中吉

酉巳丑

中吉凶

戌午寅

吉吉吉

亥未卯

中凶吉

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Inauspicious

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 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between

17:00-19:00 In-Between

19:00-21:00 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 In-Between

————

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

忌
開詞

市訟

Lawsuits and Litigation

Opening Markets

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

八

癸

亥

木

昂

破

Twenty-Eighth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: guiwei (20//60)

Phase (element): Wood

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Pleiades (18/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Destroy (7/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

破

屋

壞

垣

————

水

澤

腹

堅

歲月

破破

Appropriate Activities

Destroying Rooms

Smashing Embankments

Streams and Marshlands Frozen Solid

(the seventy-second of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods on the agricultural calendar)

Baleful Asterisms

Lunar Destruction

Generational Destruction

————

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

白 神

White, Spirit

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

房

厠 牀

Edifice

Toilet, Bed

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 01-29

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/31........................................................................................................................................1/25

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 o

f 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

九

六期星

First Month, Twenty-Ninth Day

Saturday, January 29

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

敬德歲

安日支

GenerationalBranch

Exemplary Days

Reverential Calm

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

凶中凶

酉巳丑

中吉吉

戌午寅

中中吉

亥未卯

吉凶吉

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

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 In-Between

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 Auspicious

————

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

忌
苫放開

蓋水渠

Opening Irrigation Sluices

Entering Water

Thatched Coverings

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

七

壬

午

木

胃

執

Twenty-Seventh Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: renwu (17//60)

Phase (element): Wood

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Stomach (17/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

田修出

獵造行

伐動理

木土髮

成安裁

服牀衣

安補整

葬捉甲

池咸

俱 大 月

將亡空害

Appropriate Activities

Going Out (and about)

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Cutting-out Clothing

Trimming Nails

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Positioning Beds

Seizing and Capturing

Field Venery (Goin' Huntin')

Felling Timber

Completing Clothing

Positioning Graves

Widespread Pond

Baleful Asterisms

Lunar Harm

Great Loss-Vacancy

Everything General

————

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

丫 地

Bifurcation, Earth

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

倉

碓 庫

Granary

Pestle, Storehouse

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 01-28

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/31........................................................................................................................................1/25

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 o

f 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

八

五期星

First Month, Twenty-Eighth Day

Friday, January 28

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

三歲合歲

合支日德

Generational Exemplarity

Linked Days

Generational Branch

Three Linkages

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

中中中

酉巳丑

凶吉吉

戌午寅

吉吉吉

亥未卯

凶凶中

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 In-Between

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

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 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

————

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

忌
除遠造合

服行酒醬

Mixing Sauces

Making Liquor

Distant Travels

Discarding Clothing

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

六

辛

巳

金

婁

定

Twenty-Sixth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: xinsi (18//60)

Phase (element): Metal

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Mound (16/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

安修納祭

碓造采祀

修動裁祈

倉土衣福

牧竪合會

養柱帳友

納上移訂

畜樑徙婚

痕水

火債重上

星不日兀

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Binding Sails

Moving Residences

Repairing and Cultivating

Moving Soil

Erecting Pillars

Raising Beams

Positioning Pestles

Repairing Granaries

Tending Livestock

Grain Payments

Water Scar

Baleful Asterisms

Upper Amputee

Doubled Days

Debt Not

Fire Star

————

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

丫 林

Bifurcation, Copse

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

牀 灶 㕑

Bed, Stove, Kitchen