China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 03-31

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/31..................................................................................................................................................3/25

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)

卅

一

四期星

Third Month, Thirty-First Day

Thursday, March 31

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十陰麒德歲

靈德麟日支

Generational Branch

Exemplary Days

Unicorn

Yin Exemplarity

Ten Spirits

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

凶中吉

酉巳丑

凶吉凶

戌午寅

吉吉吉

亥未卯

中凶吉

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Inauspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 Auspicious

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

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
進新穿針詞

水船耳灸訟

Lawsuits and Litigation

Acupuncture and Moxibustion

Boring Ears (Ear Cleaning)

New Boats

Entering Water

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

九

癸

未

木

井

定

Twenty-Ninth Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: guiwei (20//60)

Phase (element): Wood

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Well (22/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

作上開訂祭

灶樑市婚祀

納修交納祈

畜倉易采福

成醞修嫁會

服釀造娶友

安安動裁出

葬牀土衣行

電始

俱血 觸   大下

將忌 龍水  亡空兀

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Repairing Granaries

Fermenting Beverages

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Livestock Payments

Completing Clothing

Positioning Graves

Lightning Commences

(the twelfth of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods on the agricultural calendar)

Baleful Asterisms

Lower Amputee

Great Loss-Void

Crashing Dragon-Water

Blood Taboo

Everything General

————

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

白 鬼

White, Person

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

厠 牀 

Toilet, Bed, Edifice