China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2021 01-03

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/7.....................................................1/3/2022.............................Monthly Calendar Information

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)

三一

日月

一期星

First Month, Third Day

Monday, January 3

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十聖鳳歲

靈心凰德

Generational Exemplarity

Phoenix

Sagely Heart-Mind

Ten Spirits

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

吉凶中

酉巳丑

吉吉中

戌午寅

凶凶吉

亥未卯

吉凶中

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 In-Between

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 Auspicious

9:00-11:00  Inauspicious

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

17:00-19:00 Inauspicious

19:00-21:00 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

忌
蒔栽作修

插种灶廚

Repairing Kitchens

Stove Work

Planting and Cultivating

Timely Planting

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

除

一

丙

辰

土

畢

定

First Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: bingchen (53//60)

Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Net (17/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

倉修婚祭

安造嫁祀

門動娶祈

安土納福

床竪采會

除柱立友

服上約出

安樑交行

葬修易訂

無天陰死

祿牢將氣

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Erecting Pillars

Raising Beams

Repairing Granaries

Positioning Gates

Positioning Beds

Discarding Clothing

Positioning Graves

Baleful Astral Influences

Death Vapor

Yin General

Heavenly Punishment

Without Emolument

————

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

白

White

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

栖 灶 廚

Perch, Stove, Kitchen