China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 09-21

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/25.....................................................................................................................................................9/18

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

一

三期星

Ninth Month, Twenty-First Day

Wednesday, September 21

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

三母合歲

合倉日德

Generational Exemplarity

Linked Days

Maternal Granary

Three Linkages

————

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

凶中吉

酉巳丑

吉吉中

戌午寅

中吉中

亥未卯

吉凶凶

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00  In-Between

3:00-5:00 In-Between

5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

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

產修整理

室置甲髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Trimming Nails

Repairing Rooms

Setting-up Production

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

六

丁

丑

水

軫

定

Twenty-Sixth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: dingchou (14/60)

Phase (element): Water

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Running Board (28/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

門交娶會

作易裁友

灶修衣出

安造出行

牀動火訂

修土入婚

倉上宅納

安樑開采

葬安市嫁

勾死牛

陳氣口

Appropriate Activities

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Controlled Burning

Staying Put (Staying Home)

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Gates

Stove Work

Positioning Beds

Repairing Granaries

Positioning Graves

Baleful Asterisms

Bovine Orifice

Death Vapor

Narrative Hook

————

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

丫 林

Bifurcation, Copse

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

(the Chinese should be read left to right）

厠 庫 倉

Toilet, Storehouse, Granary