China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 02-06

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
2/12..............................................................................................................................................2/5

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)

六

日

日期星

Second Month Sixth Day

Sunday, February 6

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不十王

將靈日

Kingly Days

Ten Spirits

Not General

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

凶吉凶

酉巳丑

中中吉

戌午寅

凶中吉

亥未卯

中吉吉

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 Auspicious

9:00-11:00 In-Between

11:00-13:00 In-Between

13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 In-Between

19:00-21:00 Inauspicious

21:00-23:00 In-Between

————

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

忌
除動祭

服土祀

Venerating Ancestors

Moving Soil

Discarding Clothing

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

六

庚

寅

木

星

建

Sixth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: gengyin (27//60)

Phase (element): Wood

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Asterism (25/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Establish (1/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

上立繪

樑約友

作交冠

倉易帶

安納裁

牀財衣

納竪合

畜柱帳

府土

復天下

喪刑兀

Appropriate Activities

Meeting Friends

Coming-of Age Ceremonies

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Binding Sails

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Cash Payments

Erecting Pillars

Raising Beams

Granary Work

Positioning Beds

Livestock Payments

Soil Palace

Baleful Asterisms

Lower Amputee

Heavenly Punishment

Return Mourning

————

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

丫 天

Bifurcation, Heaven

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

碓

爐 磨

Pestle

Furnace, Mortar