China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 06-14

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/20...............................,,,,,,,,,,,...........................................................................................................6/12

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

四

二期星

Sixth Month, Fourteenth Day

Tuesday, June 14

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不月三歲

將恩合支

Generational Branch

Three Linkages

Lunar Exemplarity

Not General

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

凶凶凶

酉巳丑

中中吉

戌午寅

中吉凶

亥未卯

中吉吉

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Inauspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 Inauspicious

9:00-11:00 In-Between

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

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 In-Between

————

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

忌
時栽置買

插種業田

Purchasing Land

Setting-up Industry

Planting and Cultivating

Timely Injections

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

六

戊

戌

木

室

定

Sixteenth Day (Fifth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day:wuxu (35//60)

Phase (element): Wood

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Room (13/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

上立出祭

樑約行祀

開交嫁祈

倉易娶福

安修納入

牀造采學

納動移會

畜土徙友

氣死

天無四

  刑祿祥不

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Moving Residences

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Opening Granaries

Positioning Beds

Livestock Payments

Death Vapor

Baleful Asterisms

Four Abandon-Nots

Without Emolument

Heavenly Punishment

————

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

丫 火

Bifurcation, Fire

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

栖 牀 房

Perch, Bed, Edifice