China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 05-07

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/10.........................................................................................................................................................5/4

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)

七

日

日期星

Fifth Month, Seventh Day

Sunday, May 7

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天玉合月

喜堂日德

Lunar Exemplarity

Linked Days

Jade Hall

Heavenly Happiness

————

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

中中吉

酉巳丑

凶凶吉

戌午寅

中中吉

亥未卯

凶凶吉

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 Auspicious

9:00-11:00 Inauspicious

11:00-13:00 In-Between

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

17:00-19:00 Inauspicious

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

————

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

忌

取田時栽

魚獵插種

Planting and Cultivating

Timely Implanting

Field Venery (Goin' Huntin')

Garnering Piscinity (Goin' Fishin')

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

八

乙

丑

金

房

成

Eighteenth Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: yichou (2/60)

Phase (element): Metal

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Edifice (4/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

          (top to bottom; right to left)       

宜

修修出祭

倉造行祀

納動嫁祈

成土娶福

成上納入

服樑采血

安醞醫會

葬釀病友

不債

歸厭四火

忌碓擊星

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Physician Visits

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Fermenting Beverages

Repairing Granaries

Livestock Payments

Completing Clothing

Positioning Graves

Debt Not

Baleful Asterisms

Fire Star

Four Fisticuffs

Mutual Loathing

Return Taboo

————

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

白 山

White, Mountain

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

厠 磨 碓

Toilet, Mortar, Pestle