China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 11-16

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
11/23.................................................................................................................................................11/6

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 o

f 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

六

三期星

Eleventh Month, Sixteenth Day

Wednesday, November 16

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

生時母

氣陽倉

Maternal Granary

Timely Yang

Engendered Vapor

————

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

凶吉吉

酉巳丑

中凶吉

戌午寅

中中吉

亥未卯

中凶凶

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

7:00-9:00 Auspicious

9:00-11:00 Inauspicious

11:00-13:00 In-Between

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 In-Between

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 In-Between

————

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

忌

進新詞

水船訟

Lawsuits and Litigation

New Boats

Entering Water

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

三

癸

酉

金

軫

開

Twenty-Third Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: guiyou (10/60)

Phase (element): Metal

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Drawn Bow (28//28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

安修祭

門造祀

作動入

灶土學

牧上理

養樑髮

除安掃

服牀舍

忌楊

朱灾水

雀煞痕

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Entering Study

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Sweeping Rooms

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Positioning Gates

Stove Work

Tending Livestock

Discarding Clothing

Poplar Taboo

Baleful Asterisms

Water Scar

Disastrous Balefulness

Vermilion Bird

————

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

人 林

Person, Copse

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English,

however, "fits" intuitively in the configuration of characters)

房

門 牀

Edifice

Gate, Bed