China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 01-09

  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)

九

日

一期星

First Month, Ninth Day

Monday, January 9

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

金合歲

堂日德

Generational Exemplarity

Linked Days

Golden Hall

————

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

凶中中

酉巳丑

凶中中

戌午寅

中吉吉

亥未卯

吉凶凶

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 In-Between

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between

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 Inauspicious

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

忌

开穿理

池井髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Boring Wells

Opening Ponds

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

八

丁

卯

火

張

滿

Eighteenth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: dingmao (4/60)

Phase (element): Fire

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Drawn Bow (26//28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; right to left)

宜

作衣祭

灶移祀

補居會

塞開友

牧市出

養交行

成易訂

除安婚

服門裁

天天灾

狗火煞

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Cutting-Out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Positioning Gates and Doors

Stove Work

Patching and Plugging

Tending Livestock

Completing and Discarding Clothing

Baleful Asterisms

Classified Balefulness

Heavenly Conflagration

Heavenly Canine

————

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

白

White

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

門

庫 倉

Gate

Storehouse, Granary