China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 01-01

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/2/2021..........................................................................................................................................12/26

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)

一一     二二

日月年二零

六期星

First Month, First Day

Saturday, January 1, 2022

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

驛四時月

馬相德恩

Lunar Kindness

Timely Exemplarity

Four Facings

Postal Horse

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

凶吉中

酉巳丑

吉中中

戌午寅

吉凶吉

亥未卯

中凶中

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 In-Between

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 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 In-Between

————

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

忌
祈祭出開

福祀財倉

Opening Granaries

Capital Outflow

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

九

甲

寅

水

胃

滿

Twenty-Ninth Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: jiayin(51/60)

Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Stomach (17/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

補上開入

垣樑市學

成安交出

服牀易行

安作動裁

葬灶土衣

將陰

歸五虎下

忌虛口兀

Appropriate Activities

Entering Study

Going Out (and about)

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Patching Embankments

Completing Clothing

Positioning Graves

Yin General

Baleful Astral Influences

Lower Amputee

Tiger Mouth

Five Voids

Return Taboo

————

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

白 水

White, Water

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

爐 門 占

Furnace, Gate, Divination