China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 05-31

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/31........................... ..........................................................................................................................5/23

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)

卅

一

三期星

Fifth Month, Thirty-First Day

Wednesday, May 31

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

月天天玉

恩醫喜堂

Jade Hall

Heavenly Happiness

Heavenly Physician

Lunar Exemplarity

————

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

吉中吉

酉巳丑

凶吉凶

戌午寅

中中吉

亥未卯

凶凶吉

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Inauspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 In-Between

13:00-15:00 In-Between

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

取徙結詞

魚徙網訟

Lawsuits and Litigation

Binding Nets

Moving Residences

Garnering Piscinity

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

三

己

丑

火

軫

成

Thirteenth Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: jichou (26/60)

Phase (element): Fire

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Running Board (28/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

上開出祭

樑市行祀

修交訂祈

倉修納福

納修納入

畜造采學

安動裁會

葬土衣友

忌歸

招厭四無

搖碓擊祿

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Repairing Granaries

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves

Return Taboo

Five Voids

Baleful Asterisms

Without Emolument

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 門 占

Toilet, Gate, Divination