China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 02-08

 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)

八

日

二期星

Second Month Eighth Day

Tuesday, February 8

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

合天歲

日德德

Generational Exemplarity

Heavenly Exemplarity

Linked Days

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

凶中中

酉巳丑

吉吉吉

戌午寅

凶中吉

亥未卯

吉中吉

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

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 In-Between

13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 Inauspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

忌
行放開

喪水渠

Opening Irrigation Sluices

Putting-into Water

Mourning Visits

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

八

壬

辰

水

翌

滿

Eighth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: renchen (29//60)

Phase (element): Water

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Wings (27/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

修嫁祭

造娶祀

動納祈

土采福

上移會

樑徙友

安開出

葬市行

喪三

九厭火

空對星

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Graves

Three Mournings

Baleful Asterisms

Fire Star

Mutual Loathing

Nine Vacancies

————

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

白 地

White, Earth

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

倉

栖 庫

Granary

Perch, Storehouse