China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 07-24

 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

四

日期星

Seventh Month, Twenty-Fourth Day

Sunday, July 24

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

五金母四

富匱倉相

Four Facings

Maternal Granary

Golden Cupboard

Five Abundances

————

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

凶吉中

酉巳丑

中吉凶

戌午寅

中吉凶

亥未卯

中吉吉

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 Inauspicious

3:00-5:00 Inauspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 Auspicious

9:00-11:00  Auspicious

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

祈祭置買

福祀業田

Purchasing Land

Setting-up Industry

Venerating Ancestors*

Inquiring-into Fortune

*As (very) occasionally happens, the second character of 

"Venerating Ancestors" is written today with a simplified character.

(Check the Chinese text to the left, since my software does not have

 the simplified version...in the simplified character software).

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

六

戊

寅

土

星

危

Twenty-Sixth Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: wuyin (15/60)

Phase (element): Earth

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Asterism (25/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

倉修裁會

出造衣友

貨動移出

財土徙行

安上開訂

牀樑市婚

納修交納

畜開易采

喪復

陽游刀密

將禍砧日

Appropriate Activities

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Repairing and Opening Granaries

Capital and Product Outflow

Positioning Beds

Livestock Payments

Repeat Mourning

Baleful Asterisms

Mysterious Days

Sword Anvil

Natatorial Disaster

Yang General

————

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

丫

Bifurcation

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

(the Chinese should be read left to right）

爐 牀 房

Furnace, Bed, Edifice