China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 08-08

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/10...................................................................................................................................,,,,,,,,,,,.......8/3

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

一期星

Eighth Month, Eighth Day

Monday, August 8

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不六天鳳

將合德凰

Rising Phoenix

Heavenly Exemplarity

Six Linkages

Not General

————

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

凶吉吉

酉巳丑

中吉中

戌午寅

吉中凶

亥未卯

凶凶吉

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 In-Between

3:00-5:00 Inauspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 Auspicious

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 In-Between

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 In-Between

19:00-21:00 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

————

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

忌

行成遠詞

喪服行訟

Lawsuits and Litigation

Distant Journeys

Completing Clothing

Mourning Visits

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

一

癸

巳

水

危

收

Eleventh Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: guisi (30/60)

Phase (element): Water

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Danger (12/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Receive (10/12)*

*Occasionally a "day personality" repeats, as it does today.

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

上開訂祭

樑市婚祀

安交納祈

牀易采福

作修嫁求

灶造娶嗣

納動移會

畜土徙友

日重

河劫刀九

  魁煞砧鬼土

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Seeking Inheritance

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Marriage Alliances

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Livestock Payments

Doubled Days

Baleful Asterisms

Nine Ghost-Soils

Sword Anvil

Plundered Balefulness

River Stalwart

————

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

白 神

White, Spirit

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

(the Chinese should be read left to right）

牀 房 占

Bed, Edifice, Divination