China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 02-13

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
2/21..............................................................................................................................................2/13

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)

十

三

日期星

Second Month, Thirteenth Day

Sunday, February 13

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十天合歲

靈德日德

Generational Exemplarity

Linked Days

Heavenly Exemplarity

Ten Spirits

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

凶中中

酉巳丑

吉中吉

戌午寅

中吉中

亥未卯

吉吉凶

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 In-Between

5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 In-Between

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

忌
取田整理

魚獵甲髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Trimming Nails

Field Venery (Goin' Huntin')

Garnering Piscinity (Goin' Fishin')

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

三

丁

酉

火

房

危

Thirteenth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: dingyou (34//60)

Phase (element): Fire

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Edifice (4/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

安開出祭

牀市行祀

作修嫁祈

灶造娶福

納動納求

畜土采嗣

安上移入

葬樑徙學

忌楊

陽元五密

將武虛日

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-Into Fortune

Seeking Inheritance

Entering Study

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves

Poplar Taboo

Baleful Asterisms

Secret Days

Five Voids

Primal Martiality

Yang General

————

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

白 人

White, Person

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

庫 倉 門

Storehouse, Granary, Gate