China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 05-19

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/22........................... .................................5/19.......................................Monthly Calendar Information

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)

十五

九月

五期星

Fifth Month, Nineteenth Day

Friday, May 19

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天天玉天

醫喜堂貴

Heavenly Nobility

Jade Hall

Heavenly Happiness

Heavenly Physician

————

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

中中吉

酉巳丑

凶吉中

戌午寅

中吉中

亥未卯

凶凶凶

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 In-Between

3:00-5:00 In-Between

5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between

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

進新整理

水船甲髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Trimming Nails

New Boats

Entering Water

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

一

丁

丑

水

婁

成

First Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: dingchou (14/60)

Phase (element): Water

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Mound (16/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

          (top to bottom; right to left)       

宜

安交納入

牀易采學

作修裁會

灶造衣友

修動醫出

倉土病行

安上開訂

葬樑市婚

忌歸

招厭四水

搖對擊痕

Appropriate Activities

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

 Cutting-out Clothing

Physician Visits

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Repairing Granaries

Positioning Graves

Return Taboo

Baleful Asterisms

Water Scar

Four Fisticuffs

Mutual Loathing

Rollicking Braggadocio

————

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 庫 倉

Toilet, Storehouse, Granary