China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 08-10

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)

十

日

三期星

Eighth Month, Tenth Day

Wednesday, August 10

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不德歲

將日支

Generational Branch

Exemplary Days

Not General

————

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

凶吉中

酉巳丑

中凶凶

戌午寅

吉中凶

亥未卯

吉中吉

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Inauspicious

3:00-5:00 Inauspicious

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 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 In-Between

19:00-21:00 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

忌

針時栽

灸插種

Planting and Cultivating

Timely Injections

Acupuncture and Moxibustion

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

三

乙

未

金

壁

閉

Thirteenth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: yiwei (32/60)

Phase (element): Metal

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Eastern Wall (14/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Closed (12/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

動嫁祭

土娶祀

上裁出

樑衣行

作開訂

灶市婚

安修納

葬造采

煞月

天血寡

賊支宿

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing

Opening Markets

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Stove Work

Positioning Graves

Lunar Balefulness

Baleful Asterisms

Orphan Hostel

Blood Branch

Heavenly Thief

————

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

白 山

White, Mountain

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

(the Chinese should be read left to right）

碓

厠 磨

Pestle

Toilet, Mortar