China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 06-08

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/11...............................,,,,,,,,,,,...........................................................................................................6/4

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)

八

日

三期星

Sixth Month, Eighth Day

Wednesday, June 8

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

生時時歲

氣陽德德

Generational Exemplarity

Timely Exemplarity

Timely Yang

Engendered Vapor

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

凶中凶

酉巳丑

吉吉吉

戌午寅

凶中吉

亥未卯

吉中吉

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 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 Inauspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

忌
伐修放開

木倉水渠

Opening Irrigation Sluices

Putting-into Water

Repairing Granaries

Felling Timber

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

十

壬

辰

水

箕

開

Tenth Day (Fifth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: renchen (29//60)

Phase (element): Water

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Winnowing (7/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

動移出祭

土徙行祀

上開訂祈

樑市婚福

作交納入

灶易采學

置修裁會

產造衣友

虛五

俱寡伏暗

將宿斷金

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Stove Work

Setting-up Production

Five Voids

Baleful Asterisms

Dark Metal

Prostrate Severance

Orphan Hostel

Everything General

————

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

人

Person

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

栖 庫 倉

Perch, Storehouse, Granary