China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 09-25

 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

五

日期星

Ninth Month, Twenty-Fifth Day

Sunday, September 25

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不天天天

將恩醫喜

Heavenly Happiness

Heavenly Physician

Heavenly Kindness

Not General

————

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

凶中中

酉巳丑

凶吉吉

戌午寅

吉吉吉

亥未卯

凶吉凶

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00  Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

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 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 Inauspicious

19:00-21:00 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

————

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

忌

除遠造合

服行酒醬

Mixing Sauces

Making Liquor

Distant Journeys

Discarding Clothing

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

三

十

辛

巳

金

房

成

Thirtieth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: xinsi (18/60)

Phase (element): Metal

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Edifice (4/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

上開嫁祭

樑市娶祀

安交納祈

門易采福

作修裁入

灶造衣學

入動移會

倉土徙友

日復

朱重密水

雀日日痕

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Gates

Stove Work

Entering Granaries

Returning Days

Baleful Asterisms

Water Scar

Mysterious Days

Doubled Days

Vermilion Bird

————

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）

牀 灶廚

Bed, Stove, Kitchen