China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 07-21

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
7/28.....................................................................................................,,,,,,,,,,,..................................7/21

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

一

四期星

Seventh Month, Twenty-First Day

Thursday, July 21

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十六歲歲

靈合支祿

Generational Emolument

Generational Branch

Six Linkages

Ten Spirits

————

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

凶中吉

酉巳丑

中凶凶

戌午寅

中中吉

亥未卯

中吉吉

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Inauspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 Inauspicious

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 In-Between

————

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

忌

進新嫁栽

水船娶種

Planting and Cultivating

Marriage Alliances

New Boats

Entering Water

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

三

乙

亥

火

井

定

Twenty-Third Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: yihai (12/60)

Phase (element): Fire

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Well (22/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

安交理入

門易髮學

作修出會

灶造火友

修動入納

倉土宅采

納上開裁

畜樑市衣

氣死

重月水上

日忌痕兀

Appropriate Activities

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Controlled Burnings

Staying Home

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Gates

Stove Work

Repairing Granaries

Livestock Payments

Death Vapor

Baleful Asterisms

Upper Amputee

Water Scar

Lunar Taboo

Doubled Days

————

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

人 人

Person, Person

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

(the Chinese should be read left to right）

牀 磨 碓

Bed, Mortar, Pestle