China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 08-12

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/17...................................................................................................................................,,,,,,,,,,,.......8/11

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

二

五期星

Eighth Month, Twelfth Day

Friday, August 12

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十吉官德歲

靈期日合月

Generational Lunarity

Exemplary Linkage

Official Days

Auspicious Time-Slice

Ten Spirits

————

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

凶中中

酉巳丑

吉中吉

戌午寅

中吉凶

亥未卯

吉吉凶

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Inauspicious

5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 In-Between

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

忌

補田捕整理

垣獵捉甲髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Trimming Nails

Seizing and Capturing

Field Venery (Goin' Huntin')

Patching Embankments

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

五

丁

酉

火

婁

除

Fifteenth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: dingyou (34/60)

Phase (element): Fire

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Mound (16/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

元中

————

宜

納安修納祭

畜門造采祀

除安動裁祈
服牀土衣福

安修上掃訂

葬倉樑舍婚

將陰

大大咸五雞

敗時池離口

Zhongyuan Festival （“Ghost Festival")

An observance of spirits in the midst, always celebrated on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month)

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Sweeping Rooms

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Gates

Repairing Granaries

Livestock Payments

Discarding Clothing

Positioning Beds

Yin General

Baleful Asterisms

Rooster Orifice

Five Separations

Widespread Pond

Great Temporality

Great Defeat

————

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）

庫 倉 門

Storehouse, Granary, Gate