China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 01-08

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/13.......................................................................................................................................................1/6

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 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)

八

日

日期星

First Month, Eighth Day

Sunday, January 8

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不相時

將日德

Timely Exemplarity

Facing Days

Not General

————

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

凶凶吉

酉巳丑

吉中中

戌午寅

中吉中

亥未卯

中凶吉

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 In-Between

3:00-5:00 In-Between

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 Inauspicious

9:00-11:00 In-Between

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 In-Between

————

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

忌

祭作修

祀灶厨

Repairing Kitchens

Stove Work

Venerating Ancestors

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

七

丙

寅

火

星

除

Seventeenth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: bingyin (3/60)

Phase (element): Fire

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Asterism (25//28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; right to left)

宜

交移訂

易徙婚

安醫納

門病采

除掃嫁

服舍娶

安立裁

葬約衣

痕水

五上密

虛兀日

Appropriate Activities

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing (Haircuts and Styling)

Moving Residences

Physician Visits

Sweeping Rooms

Setting-up Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Positioning Gates and Doors

Discarding Clothing

Positioning Graves

Water Scar

Baleful Asterisms

Mysterious Days

Upper Amputee

Five Voids

————

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)

厨

爐 灶

Kitchen

Furnace, Stove