China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 02-07

 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)

七

日

一期星

Second Month Seventh Day

Monday, February 7

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不官合月

將日日德

Lunar Exemplarity

Linked Days

 Official Days

Not General

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

凶中中

酉巳丑

凶吉中

戌午寅

吉吉吉

亥未卯

中中吉

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 In-Between

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 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 Inauspicious

19:00-21:00 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 In-Between

————

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

忌
開穿造合

池井酒醬

Mixing Sauces

Making Liquor

Boring Wells

Opening Ponds

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

七

辛

卯

木

張

除

Seventh Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: xinmao (28//60)

Phase (element): Wood

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Drawn Bow (26/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

動理訂祭

土髮婚祀

上立納祈

樑約采福

修交嫁會

倉易娶友

安修移出

葬造徙行

星長

朱大咸水

雀敗池痕

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Marriage Alliances

Moving Residences

Patterning Hair

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Repairing Granaries

Positioning Graves

Long Star

Baleful Asterisms

Water Scar

Widespread Pond

Great Defeat

Vermilion Bird

————

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

白 林

White, Copse

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

門 灶 㕑

Gate, Stove, Kitchen