Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"
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7/2...............................,,,,,,,,,,,..................................6/29.........................................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.
Solar Calendar Date
(top to bottom, right to left)
Sixth Month, Thirtieth Day
Thursday, June 30
————
Section Two
Beneficent Stars
(top to bottom, right to left)
天天三母
醫喜合倉
Maternal Granary
Three Linkages
Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician
————
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left)
申辰甲
凶吉凶
酉巳丑
吉中中
戌午寅
吉凶吉
亥未卯
中吉中
23:00-1:00 Inauspicious
1:00-3:00 In-Between
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 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
21:00-23:00 In-Between
————
Section Four
Activities to Avoid
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
忌
祈祭出開
福祀行倉
Opening Granaries
Capital Outflow
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
————
Section Five
Cosmological Information
初
二
甲
寅
水
角
成
Second Day (Sixth Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: jiayin (51/60)
Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Horn (1/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)
————
Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
醞交裁入
釀易衣學
安修理會
牀造髮友
栽動醫出
種土病行
安上開訂
葬樑市婚
忌歸
陽大白八
將煞虎專
Appropriate Activities
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair
Physician Visits
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Fermenting Beverages
Positioning Beds
Planting and Cultivating
Positioning Graves
Return Taboo
Baleful Asterisms
Eight Specialties
White Tiger
Great Balefulness
Yang General
————
Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese should be read left to right)
白 水
White, Water
————
Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items
(the Chinese should be read left to right)
爐 門 占
Furnace, Gate, Divination