China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 12-04

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
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

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)

四

日

日期星

Eleventh Month, Fourth Day

Sunday, December 4

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不陰時民

將德陰日

Peopled Days

Timely Yin

Yin Exemplarity

Not General

————

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

凶中中

酉巳丑

凶凶中

戌午寅

吉吉吉

亥未卯

中中吉

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 In-Between

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 In-Between

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

開穿造合

池井酒醬

Mixing Sauces

Making Liquor

Boring Wells

Opening Ponds

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

一

辛

卯

木

昂

定

Eleventh Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: xinmao (28/60)

Phase (element): Wood

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Pleiades (18//28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

樑開采入

安市嫁學

牀交髮會

修易裁友

倉修衣出

納造移行

畜動徙訂

安土理婚

葬上髮納

元死兔密

武氣口日

Appropriate Activities

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Grain Payments

Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Moving Residences

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Repairing Granaries

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves

Baleful Asterisms

Mysterious Days

Rabbit Mouth

Death Vapor

Primal Martiality

————

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

白 人

White, Person

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

門 灶 厨

Gate, Stove, Kitchen