China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 11-26

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
11/27............................................................................11/24......................................Monthly Calendar Information

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

六

六期星

Eleventh Month, Twenty-Sixth Day

Saturday, November 26

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十天天德歲

靈醫喜日支

Generational Branch

Exemplary Days

Heavenly Happiness

Heavenly Physician

Ten Spirits

————

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

凶中吉

酉巳丑

中凶凶

戌午寅

吉吉吉

亥未卯

中凶吉

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Inauspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 Inauspicious

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 In-Between

19:00-21:00 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 n-Between

————

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

忌

進新作修詞

水船灶厨訟

Lawsuits and Litigation

Repairing Kitchens

Stove Work

New Boats

Entering Water

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

三

癸

未

木

女

成

Third Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: guiwei (20/60)

Phase (element): Wood

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Maiden (10//28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

安上立訂祭

牀樑約婚祀

納築交納祈

畜提易采福

成修修裁入

服倉造衣學

安醞動開會

葬釀土市友

星火

往招厭四水

亡搖對擊痕

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing

Opening Markets

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Constructing Dikes

Repairing Granaries

Fermenting Beverages

Positioning Beds

Livestock Payments

Completing Clothing

Positioning Graves

Fire Star

Baleful Asterisms

Water Scar

Four Fisticuffs

Mutual Repression

Rollicking Braggadocio

Toward Demise

————

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

丫

Bifurcation

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

厠 牀 房

Toilet, Bed, Edifice