China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 01-11

 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)

十

一

三期星

First Month, Eleventh Day

Wednesday, January 11

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

時三天玉

陽合成堂

Jade Hall

Heavenly Completion

Three Linkages

Timely Yang

————

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

凶中吉

酉巳丑

中中凶

戌午寅

中吉吉

亥未卯

凶凶中

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Inauspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 In-Between

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 In-Between

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

————

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

忌

行成除遠

喪服靈行

Distant Journeys

Exorcising Spirits

Completing Clothing

Mourning Visits

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

二

十

己

巳

木

軫

定

Twentieth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: jisi (6/60)

Phase (element): Wood

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Running Board (28//28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; right to left)

宜

安交理會

牀易髮友

作修移訂

灶造居婚

醞動入納

釀土宅采

納上立裁

畜樑約衣

氣死

復重招厭

日喪搖對

Appropriate Activities

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Moving Residences

Remaining at Home

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Fermenting Beverages

Livestock Payments

Death Vapor

Baleful Asterisms

Mutual Repression

Rollicking Braggadocio

Doubled Mourning

Repeated Days

————

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

白 林

White, Copse

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

牀 門 占

Bed, Gate, Divination