China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 10-17

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/24....................................................................................................................................................10/17

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

七

一期星

Tenth Month, Seventeenth Day

Monday, October 17

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不聖六四

將心合 相

Four Facings

Six Linkages

Sagely Heart-Mind

Not General

————

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

凶凶吉

酉巳丑

凶中中

戌午寅

吉中吉

亥未卯

中凶吉

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 In-Between

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 Inauspicious

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

修開穿詞

倉池井訟

Lawsuits and Litigation

Boring Wells

Opening Ponds

Repairing Granaries

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

二

癸

卯

金

張

執

Twenty-Second Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: guimao (40/60)

Phase (element): Metal

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Drawn Bow (26/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

安醫嫁祭

牀病娶祀

作修納祈

灶造采福

醞動移會

釀土徙友

安上理出

葬樑髮行

池咸

大大大下

  敗時亡空兀

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Moving Residences

Patterning Hair

Physician Visits

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Fermenting Beverages

Positioning Graves

Widespread Pond

Baleful Asterisms

Lower Amputee

Great Loss-Void

Great Timeliness

Great Defeat

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English, however, "fits" directly below each character)

人 山

Person, Mountain

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English, however, "fits" intuitively in the configuration of characters)

門 牀 房

Gate, Bed, Edifice