China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 05-20

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/21...........................................................................................................................................5/14

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)

二

十

五期星

Fifth Month, Twentieth Day

Friday, May 20

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

時要三民

陰安合日

Peopled Days

Three Linkages

Urgent Calm

Timely Yin

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

凶吉吉

酉巳丑

中吉吉

戌午寅

中中吉

亥未卯

凶凶凶

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

7:00-9:00 Auspicious

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 In-Between

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

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
置時栽詞

產插種訟

Lawsuits and Litigation

Planting and Cultivating

Timely Injections

Setting-up Production

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

二

十

癸

酉

金

婁

定

Twentieth Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: guiyou (10//60)

Phase (element):Metal

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Mound (16/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

樑開采祭

安市嫁祀

牀交娶入

修易裁學

倉修衣出

納造移行

畜動徙訂

安土理婚

葬上髮納

陰朱死五

將雀氣離

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Entering Study

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Moving Residences

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

 Positioning Beds

Repairing Granaries

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves

Baleful Asterisms

Five Separations

Death Vapor

Vermilion Bird

Yin General

————

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

人 林

Person, Copse

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

門 牀 房

Gate, Bed, Edifice