China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 04-04

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
4/4........................................................................4/1................................Monthly Calendar Information

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)

四

日

一期星

Fourth Month, Fourth Day

Monday, April 4

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

六歲歲合歲

合支祿日德

Generational Exemplarity

Linked Days

Generational Emolument

Generational Branch

Six Linkages

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

凶中中

酉巳丑

凶凶吉

戌午寅

吉吉吉

亥未卯

吉吉凶

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 Inauspicious

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 Inauspicious

19:00-21:00 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

忌
成除嫁整理

服靈娶甲髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Trimming Nails

Marriage Alliances

Exorcising Spirits

Completing Clothing

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

四

丁

亥

土

張

成

Fourth Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: dinghai (24//60)

Phase (element): Earth

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Drawn Bow (26/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

安動開納祭

門土市采祀

作上立出祈

灶樑約行福

栽醞交入入

種釀易宅學

納修修醫會

畜倉造病友

日重

元無 大四  下

武祿亡空祥不兀

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Grain Payments

Connecting-with Companions

Staying Home

Physician Visits

Opening Markets

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Fermenting Beverages

Repairing Granaries

Positioning Gates

Stove Work

Planting and Cultivating

Livestock Payments

Doubled Days

Baleful Asterisms

Lower Amputee

Four Auspicious-Nots

Treat Loss-Void

Without Emolument

Primal Martiality

————

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

丫

Bifurcation

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

牀 庫 倉

Bed, Storehouse, Granary