China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 06-30

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/30.......................................................................................................................................................6/23

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)

三

十

五期星

Sixth Month, Thirtieth Day

Friday, June 30

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

守四三歲

日相合支

Generational Branch

Three Linkages

Four Facings

Protected Days

————

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

吉中凶

酉巳丑

凶吉凶

戌午寅

中吉吉

亥未卯

凶吉吉

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

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 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 Auspicious

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

行成除納

喪服靈采

Grain Payments

Exorcising Spirits

Completing Clothing

Mourning Visits

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

三

己

未

火

亢

除

Thirteenth Day (Fifth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: jiwei (56/60)

Phase (element): Fire

"Constellation Personality: Neck (2/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

開交裁祭

倉易衣祀

安修理祈

牀造髮福

作動移會

灶土徙友

安上立出

葬樑約行

喪三

陰孤勾八

將辰陳專

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Moving Residences

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Opening Granaries

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Positioning Graves

Three Mournings

Baleful Asterisms

Eight Specialties

Narrative Hook

Orphan Dawn

Yin General

————

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)

厠 門 占

Toilet, Gate, Divination

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 06-29

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/30.......................................................................................................................................................6/23

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)

廿

九

四期星

Sixth Month, Twenty-Ninth Day

Thursday, June 29

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

月歲

恩德

Generational Exemplarity

Lunar Kindness

————

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

吉中凶

酉巳丑

凶吉中

戌午寅

中中凶

亥未卯

中吉吉

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

1:00-3:00 In-Between

3:00-5:00 Inauspicious

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 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

17:00-19:00 Inauspicious

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 In-Between

————

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

忌

置買

業田

Purchasing Land

Setting-up Industry

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

二

戊

午

火

角

建

Twelfth Day (Fifth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: wuwu (55/60)

Phase (element): Fire

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

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

祭

祀

火暗

星金

土伏

符斷

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Baleful Asterisms

Dark Metal

Prostrate Severance

Fire Asterism

Soil Charm

————

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)

房

碓 牀

Edifice

Pestle, Bed

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 06-28

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/30.......................................................................................................................................................6/23

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)

廿

八

三期星

Sixth Month, Twenty-Eighth Day

Wednesday, June 28

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

王歲

日馬

Generational Equinity

Kingly Days

————

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

中中凶

酉巳丑

凶吉吉

戌午寅

吉吉中

亥未卯

凶吉凶

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

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 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between

17:00-19:00 Inauspicious

19:00-21:00 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

————

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

忌

遠理

行髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Distant Travels

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

一

丁

巳

土

軫

閉

Eleventh Day (Fifth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: dingsi (54/60)

Phase (element): Earth

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

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

補

垣

塞

穴

債上

不朔

重蛇

喪口

Divided Dragon

Appropriate Activities

Patching Embankments

Plugging Caves

Baleful Asterisms

Upper Decade

Snake Mouth

Debt Not

Doubled Mourning

————

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

人

Person

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

倉

牀 庫

Granary

Bed, Storehouse