Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"
⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/8........................... .................................................................................................................................6/1
6/8........................... .................................................................................................................................6/1
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.
Solar Calendar Date
(top to bottom, right to left)
七
日
三期星
Sixth Month, Seventh Day
Wednesday, June 7
————
Section Two
Beneficent Stars
Beneficent Stars
(top to bottom, right to left)
月德歲
德日支
Generational Branch
Exemplary Days
Lunar Exemplarity
————
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left)
申辰甲
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left)
申辰甲
吉凶凶
酉巳丑
凶吉吉
戌午寅
吉中凶
亥未卯
吉吉中
23:00-1:00 Inauspicious
1:00-3:00 Auspicious
3:00-5:00 Inauspicious
5:00-7:00 In-Between
7:00-9:00 Inauspicious
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 Auspicious
21:00-23:00 Auspicious
————
Section Four
Activities to Avoid
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
忌
安座修
牀灶厨
Repairing Kitchens
Stove Work
Positioning Beds
————
Section Five
Cosmological Information
Cosmological Information
二
十
丙
申
火
箕
滿
Twentieth Day (Fourth Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: bingshen (33/60)
Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Winnowing Basket (7/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)
————
Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top to bottom; left to right)
宜
開嫁祭
市娶祀
動納入
土采學
上移會
樑徙友
安理出
葬髮行
虛五
孤無五
辰祿離
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair
Opening Markets
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Graves
Five Voids
Baleful Asterisms
Five Separations
Without Emolument
Orphan Dawn
————
Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English, however, "fits" directly below each character)
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English, however, "fits" directly below each character)
白 地
White, Earth
————
Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items
(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English,
however, "fits" intuitively in the configuration of characters)
厨
爐 灶
Kitchen
Furnace, Stove
No comments:
Post a Comment