China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2022 12-11

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
12/14...............................................................................................................................................12/6

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

一

日期星

Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day

Sunday, December 11

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

生時三歲

氣陽合支

Generational Branch

Three Linkages

Timely Yang

Engendered Vapor

————

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

凶凶中

酉巳丑

中中吉

戌午寅

中凶凶

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 Inauspicious

7:00-9:00 Inauspicious

9:00-11:00 In-Between

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious

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

田伐置買

獵木業田

Purchasing Land

Setting-up Industry

Felling Timber

Field Venery (Goin' Huntin')

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

八

戊

辰

木

星

開

Eighteenth Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: wuchen (35/60)

Phase (element): Wood

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Asterism (25//28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜

穿修訂祭

井造婚祀

載動裁祈

種土衣福

安上理入

門樑髮學

作開整會

灶娶甲友

不債

俱五上楊

將虛兀忌

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Trimming Nails

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Opening Irrigation Sluices

Boring Wells

Planting and Cultivating

Positioning Gates

Stove Work

Debt Not

Baleful Asterisms

Poplar Taboo

Upper Amputee

Five Voids

Everything General

————

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

白 火

White, Fire

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

栖 牀 房

Perch, Bed, Edifice