Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"
⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
12/5...............................................................................................................................................11/28
12/5...............................................................................................................................................11/28
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
Solar Calendar Date
(top to bottom, right to left)
三
日
六期星
Eleventh Month, Third Day
Saturday, December 3
————
Section Two
Beneficent Stars
Beneficent Stars
(top to bottom, right to left)
時合天
德日德
Heavenly Exemplarity
Linked Days
Timely Exemplarity
————
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left)
申辰甲
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left)
申辰甲
凶吉凶
酉巳丑
中凶吉
戌午寅
凶吉吉
亥未卯
中吉吉
23:00-1:00 Inauspicious
1:00-3:00 Auspicious
3:00-5:00 Auspicious
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 Inauspicious
21:00-23:00 In-Between
————
Section Four
Activities to Avoid
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
忌
祈祭結
福祀網
Binding Nets
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
————
Section Five
Cosmological Information
Cosmological Information
初
十
庚
寅
木
胃
平
Tenth Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: gengyin (27/60)
Phase (element): Wood
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Stomach (17//28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Level (4/12)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Level (4/12)
————
Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
開移會
倉徙友
平修出
道倉行
成動嫁
服土娶
安上納
葬樑采
不債
河天五
魁牢虛
Appropriate Activities
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Repairing Granaries
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Opening Granaries
Leveling Roads
Completing Clothing
Positioning Graves
Debt Not
Baleful Asterisms
Five Voids
Heavenly Penitentiary
River Stalwart
————
Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English, however, "fits" directly below each character)
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English, however, "fits" directly below each character)
人 鬼
Person, Ghost
————
Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items
(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English,
however, "fits" intuitively in the configuration of characters)
碓
爐 磨
Pestle
Furnace, Mortar
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