China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 01-04

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/5.......................................................................................................................................................12/28

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 of 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

三期星

First Month, Fourth Day

Wednesday, January 4

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

生時月歲

氣陽德德

Generational Exemplarity

Lunar Exemplarity

Timely Yang

Engendered Vapor

————

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

凶凶中

酉巳丑

中吉中

戌午寅

吉凶吉

亥未卯

吉吉吉

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 Inauspicious

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

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 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

忌

塞補放開

穴垣水渠

Opening Irrigation Sluices

Putting-into Water

Patching Embankments

Plugging Caves

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

三

壬

戌

水

參

開

Thirteenth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: renxu (59/60)

Phase (element): Water

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Gathering (21//28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; right to left)

宜

修交訂祭

倉易婚祀

置修納祈

產造采福

作動裁入

灶土衣學

納上開會

畜樑市友

兀下

天往五寡

刑亡虛宿

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Repairing Granaries

Setting-up Production

Stove Work

Livestock Payments

Lower Amputee

Baleful Asterisms

Orphan Hostel

Five Voids

Toward Perishment

Heavenly Punishment

————

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 庫 倉

Perch, Storehouse, Granary