China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 08-18

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/26...................................................................................................................................,,,,,,,,,,,.......8/18

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

八

四期星

Eighth Month, Eighteenth Day

Thursday, August 18

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

益四天麒

後相德麟

Unicorn

Heavenly Exemplarity

Four Facings

Increased Behind

————

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

凶中吉

酉巳丑

凶中中

戌午寅

吉中凶

亥未卯

中凶吉

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 In-Between

9:00-11:00 In-Between

11:00-13:00 In-Between

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 Inauspicious

19:00-21:00 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 In-Between

————

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

忌

動開穿詞

土池井訟

Lawsuits and Litigation

Boring Wells

Opening Ponds

Moving Soil

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

一

癸

卯

金

井

危

Twenty-First Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: guimao (40/60)

Phase (element): Metal

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Well (22/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

安立嫁祭

牀約娶祀

作交納祈

灶易采福

成上移會

服樑徙友

安開理出

葬倉髮行

鳴蟬寒

陽土朱兔

將符雀口

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Moving Residences

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Raising Beams

Opening Granaries

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Completing Clothing

Positioning Graves

Cold Cicadas Sing

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

Baleful Asterisms

Hare Orifice

Vermilion Bird

Soil Charm

Yang General

————

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

人 林

Person, Copse

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

(the Chinese should be read left to right）

門 牀 房

Gate, Bed, Edifice