China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 06-09

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/17........................... .................................................................................................................................6/9

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)

九

日

五期星

Sixth Month, Ninth Day

Friday, June 9

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

月六歲歲

恩合支德

Generational Exemplarity

Generational Branch

Six Linkages

Lunar Kindness

————

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

吉凶凶

酉巳丑

凶中吉

戌午寅

中吉凶

亥未卯

中吉吉

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Inauspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 Inauspicious

9:00-11:00 In-Between

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 In-Between

————

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

忌

時栽置買

插種業田

Purchasing Land

Setting-up Industry

Planting and Cultivating

Timely Injections

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

二

戊

戌

木

牛

定

Twenty-Second Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: wuxu (35/60)

Phase (element): Wood

"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Oxen (9/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

動移出祭

土徙行祀

上立訂祈

樑約婚福

安交納入

牀易采學

開修嫁會

倉造娶友

兀上

木天死無

馬刑氣祿

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

 Marriage Alliances

Moving Residences

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Opening Granaries

Upper Amputee

Baleful Asterisms

Without Emolument

Death Vapor

Heavenly Punishment

 Wooden Horse

————

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

人 火

Person, Fire

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

栖 門房

Perch, Gate, Edifice