China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 03-07

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/14..................................................................................................................................................3/7

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)

七

日

一期星

Third Month, Seventh Day

Monday, March 7

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

合月德歲

日德日支

Generational Branch

Exemplary Days

Lunar Exemplarity

Linked Days

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

凶中中

酉巳丑

凶吉凶

戌午寅

中吉吉

亥未卯

凶吉吉

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 Inauspicious

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 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 Inauspicious

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

————

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

忌
田詞穿針

獵訟耳灸

Acupuncture and Moxibustion

Boring Aural Orifices (Cleanin' Earholes)

Lawsuits and Litigation

Field Venery (Goin' Huntin')

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

五

己

未

火

張

定

Fifth Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: jiwei (56//60)

Phase (element): Fire

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Drawn Bow (26/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

安交訂祭

牀易婚祀

修修裁祈

倉造衣福

栽動移會

種土徙友

安上開出

葬樑市行

兀下

血死月反

忌氣忌支

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Cutting-Out Clothing

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Repairing Granaries

Stove Work

Positioning Graves

Lower Amputee

Baleful Asterisms

Opposèd Branch

Lunar Taboo

Death Vapor

Blood Taboo

————

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

丫 人

Bifurcation, Person

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

厠 門 占

Toilet, Gate, Divination