China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 08-24

  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)

廿

四

三期星

Eighth Month, Twenty-FourthDay

Wednesday, August 24

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天進官

恩神日

Official Days

Entering Spirits

Heavenly Kindness

————

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

凶吉吉

酉巳丑

中吉凶

戌午寅

中吉凶

亥未卯

凶吉凶

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Inauspicious

3:00-5:00 Inauspicious

5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

7:00-9:00 Auspicious

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 In-Between

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

————

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

忌

田塞補

獵穴垣

Patching Embankments

Plugging Caves

Field Venery (Goin' Huntin')

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

七

己

酉

土

軫

除

Twenty-Seventh Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: jiyou (46/60)

Phase (element): Earth

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Running Board (28/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

安掃祭

牀舍祀

安修祈

門造福

成動裁

服土衣

安上理

葬樑髮

池咸

陰元雞

將武口

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring) 

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Sweeping Rooms

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Positioning Gates

Completing Clothing

Positioning Graves

Widespread Pond

Baleful Asterisms

Chicken Orifice (Hen Hole)

Primal Martiality

Yin General

————

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）

占

門 大

Divination

Gate, Great