China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 01-16

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/16...............................................................................................................................................1/8

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

日期星

First Month, Sixteenth Day

Sunday, January 16

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

玉三歲

堂合支

Generational Branch

Three Linkages

Jade Hall

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

吉中吉

酉巳丑

中中凶

戌午寅

中吉吉

亥未卯

凶凶中

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Inauspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 In-Between

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 In-Between

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

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 Inauspicious

————

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

忌
行成遠

喪服行

Distant Journeys

Completing Clothing

Mourning Visits

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

四

己

巳

木

房

定

Fourteenth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: jisi (6//60)

Phase (element): Wood

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Edifice (4/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

動裁祭

土衣祀

上理訂

樑髮婚

安立嫁

門約娶

作交納

灶易采

日重

重月上

喪忌兀

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Marriage Engagements

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Gates and Doors

Stove Work

Doubled Days

Baleful Asterisms

Upper Amputee

Lunar Taboo

Doubled Mourning

————

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

丫 林

Bifurcation, Copse

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

占

牀 門

Divination

Bed, Gate