China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 05-29

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/29...........................................................................................................................................5/22

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)

廿

九

日期星

Fifth Month, Twenty-Ninth Day

Sunday,, May 29

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

聖三歲歲

心合支德

Generational Exemplarity

Generational Branch

Three Linkages

Sagely Heart-Mind

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

凶中凶

酉巳丑

中吉吉

戌午寅

中中吉

亥未卯

凶吉吉

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

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 In-Between

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
成除放開

服服水渠

Opening Irrigation Sluices

Entering Water

Discarding Clothing

Completing Clothing

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

九

壬

午

木

星

除

Twenty-Ninth Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: renwu (19//60)

Phase (element): Wood

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Asterism (25/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

修交理祭

倉易髮祀

安修醫祈

牀造病福

納動掃會

畜土佘友

安上開出

葬樑市行

池咸

俱復大大

將喪敗時

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Patterning Hair

Physician Visits

Sweeping Rooms

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Repairing Granaries

Positioning Beds

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves

Widespread Pond

Baleful Asterisms

Great Temporality

Great Defeat

Repeat Mourning

Everything General

————

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

白

White

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

碓 庫 倉

Pestle, Storehouse, Granary