China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 07-31

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/7..........................................................................................................................................................7/31

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.  

                                                   THROUGH TWOSection One

                                            Solar Calendar Date

                                        (top to bottom, right to left)

卅

一

一期星

Seventh Month, Thirty-First Day

Monday, July 31

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十五母

靈富倉

Maternal Granary

Five Abundances

Ten Spirits

————

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

凶吉凶

酉巳丑

凶中凶

戌午寅

凶中吉

亥未卯

中吉吉

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

1:00-3:00 Inauspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 Auspicious

9:00-11:00 In-Between

11:00-13:00 In-Between

13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 Inauspicious

19:00-21:00 Inauspicious

21:00-23:00 In-Between

————

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

忌

祈祭結

福祀網

Binding Nets

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

四

庚

寅

木

心

危

Fourteenth Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: gengyin (27/60)

Phase (element): Wood

"Constellation Personality: Heart-Mind (5/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

安理入

牀髮學

栽開會

種市友

納交出

畜易行

安醞頂

葬釀婚

星火

游上月

禍兀忌

Appropriate Activities

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Fermenting Beverages

Positioning Beds

Planting and Cultivating

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves

Fire Star

Baleful Asterisms

Lunar Taboo

Upper Amputee

Natatorial Disaster

————

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

丫

Bifurcation

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

碓

爐 磨

Pestle

Furnace, Mortar

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 07-30

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
7/30..........................................................................................................................................................7/22

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

日期星

Seventh Month, Thirtieth Day

Sunday, July 30

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

德天

合月

Heavenly Lunarity

Exemplary Linkage

————

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 Inauspicious

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

行除

喪服

Discarding Clothing

Mourning Visits

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

三

己

丑

火

房

破

Thirteenth Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: jichou (26/60)

Phase (element): Fire

"Constellation Personality: Edifice (4/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Destroy (7/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

破

屋

壞

垣

重月

喪破

復四

日擊

Appropriate Activities

Destroying Rooms

Smashing Embankments

Baleful Asterisms

Lunar Destruction

Four Fisticuffs

Doubled Mourning

Returning Days

————

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

白 州

White, Landmass

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

占

厠 門

Divination

Toilet, Gate

China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 07-29

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
7/30..........................................................................................................................................................7/22

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

六期星

Seventh Month, Twenty-Ninth Day

Saturday, July 29

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

歲歲

祿德

Generational Exemplarity

Generational Emolument

————

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

吉吉中

酉巳丑

凶吉凶

戌午寅

中凶凶

亥未卯

中中吉

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 Inauspicious

3:00-5:00 Inauspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 Auspicious

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious

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 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

子

火

氐

執

Twelfth Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: wuzi (25/60)

Phase (element): Fire

"Constellation Personality: Foundation (3/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

整祭

甲祀

結出

網行

捕裁

捉衣

田理

獵髮

水

痕

復歸

喪忌

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Going Out (and about)

Cutting-out Clothing

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Trimming Nails

Binding Nets

Seizing and Capturing

Field Venery (Goin' Huntin')

Water Scar

Baleful Asterisms

Return Taboo

Repeat Mourning

————

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

白 水

White, Water

————

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