China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 11-21

 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)

廿

一

一期星

Eleventh Month, Twenty-First Day

Monday, November 21

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

相金時

日堂德

Timely Exemplarity

Golden Hall

Facing Days

————

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

凶吉中

酉巳丑

中凶吉

戌午寅

中吉凶

亥未卯

中吉吉

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Inauspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 Auspicious

9:00-11:00 Inauspicious

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 In-Between

————

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

忌

置祈祭

產福祀

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Setting-up Production

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

八

戊

寅

土

心

平

Twenty-Eighth Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: wuyin (15/60)

Phase (element): Earth

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Heart-Mind (5//28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Level (4/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

上嫁會

樑娶友

醞移出

釀徙行

納開訂

畜市婚

安交納

葬易裁

囊地

陰五孤

將虛辰

Appropriate Activities

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Marriage Alliances

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Raising Beams

Fermenting Beverages

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves

Earth Duffel (Dirt Bag)

Baleful Asterisms

Orphan Dawn

Five Voids

Yin General

————

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

丫 鬼

Bifurcation, Ghost

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

房

爐 牀

Edifice

Furnace, Bed