China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 08-02

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/2............................................................................7/29................,,,,,,,,,,,.......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.        

                                                     Section One

                                                Solar Calendar Date

                                           (top to bottom, right to left)

二

日

二期星

Eighth Month, Second Day

Tuesday, August 2

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

六歲合歲

合支日德

Generational Exemplarity

Linked Days

Generational Branch

Six Linkages

————

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

凶中中

酉巳丑

吉凶凶

戌午寅

吉吉吉

亥未卯

吉吉凶

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 Inauspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 Inauspicious

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

忌

除嫁整理

服娶甲髮

Patterning Hair

Trimming Nails

Marriage Alliances

Discarding Clothing

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

五

丁

亥

土

尾

定

Fifth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: dinghai (24/60)

Phase (element): Earth

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Tail (6/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle:  Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

安動掃會

牀土舍友

作上出出

灶樑伙行

結築入裁

網提宅衣

納醞修沐

裁釀造浴

行時雨大

厭死重月

對期日忌

Appropriate Activities

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Cutting-out Clothing

Bubbling and Bathing

Sweeping Rooms

Interacting-with Companions

Staying Home

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Constructing Dikes

Fermenting Beverages

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Binding Nets

 Livestock Payments

Great, Timely Rains Seep Through

(the thirty-sixth of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods on the agricultural calendar)

Baleful Asterisms

Lunar Taboo

Doubled Days

Death Vapor

Mutual Loathing

————

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

丫 人

Bifurcation, Person

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

(the Chinese should be read left to right）

牀 庫 倉

Bed, Storehouse, Granary