China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 05-11

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/13.....................................................................................................................................................5/6

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)

十

一

三期星

Fifth Month, Eleventh Day

Wednesday, May 11

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不天進

將恩神

Entering Spirits

Heavenly Kindness

Not General

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

凶吉吉

酉巳丑

中中吉

戌午寅

中凶吉

亥未卯

凶吉中

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 In-Between

7:00-9:00 Auspicious

9:00-11:00 In-Between

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious

13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 In-Between

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

————

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

忌
問出開

卜財倉

Opening Granaries

Capital Outflow

Divinatory Inquiries

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

一

甲

子

金

箕

危

Eleventh Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: jiazi (1//60)

Phase (element): Metal

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Winnowing Basket (7/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

上移祭

樑徙祀

安開會

牀市友

成修嫁

服造娶

安動裁

葬土衣

出蚓蚯

白五大

 虎虛亡空

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Meeting Friends

Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Completing Clothing

Positioning Graves

Earthworms Emerge

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

Baleful Asterisms

Great Loss-Void

Five Voids

White Tiger

————

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

白 火

White, Fire

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

占

碓 門

Divination

Pestle, Gate