China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 02-13

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
2/19.......................................................................................................................................................2/12

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

三

一期星

Second Month, Thirteenth Day

Monday, February 13

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十合天

靈日德

Heavenly Exemplarity

Linked Days

Ten Spirits

————

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

凶中中

酉巳丑

凶中吉

戌午寅

吉中吉

亥未卯

中吉吉

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 In-Between

11:00-13:00 In-Between

13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 Inauspicious

19:00-21:00 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 In-Between

————

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

忌

祭放開

祀水渠

Opening Irrigation Sluices

Putting-into Water

Venerating Ancestors

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

三

壬

寅

金

心

建

Twenty-Third Day (First Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: renyin (39/60)

Phase (element): Metal

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Heart (5//28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Establish (1/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; right to left)

宜

安立會

牀約友

牧交訂

養易婚

納竪納

畜柱采

安上裁

葬樑衣

府土

陰天月

將刑忌

Appropriate Activities

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing (Haircuts and Styling)

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Erecting Pillars

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Tending Livestock

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves

Soil Palace

Baleful Asterisms

Lunar Taboo

Heavenly Punishment

Yin General

————

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

白 天

White, Heaven

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

倉

爐 庫

Granary

Furnace, Storehouse