China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 08-10

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/15..........................................................................................................................................................8/8

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)

十

日

四期星

Eighth Month Tenth Day

Thursday, August 10

————

 Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

福民時歲

生日德祿

Generational Emolument

Timely Exemplarity

Peopled Days

 Fortunate Engendering

————

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

吉中凶

酉巳丑

凶中吉

戌午寅

凶凶凶

亥未卯

中吉中

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 In-Between

9:00-11:00 In-Between

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious

13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

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

行成除結

喪服靈網

Binding Nets

Exorcising Spirits

Completing Clothing

Mourning Visits

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

四

庚

午

土

奎

定

Twenty-Fourth Day (Sixth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: gengwu (37/60)

Phase (element): Earth

"Constellation Personality: Astride (15/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

伏末

宜

作修裁祭

灶造衣祀

修動移會

倉土徙友

醞上開出

釀樑市行

喪重

俱復死血

將日氣忌

Appropriate Activities

Veneration Ancestors

 Meeting Friends

 Going Out (and about

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Stove Work

Repairing Granaries

Fermenting Beverages

Baleful Asterisms

Blood Taboo

Death Vapor

Returning Days

Everything General

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

白

White

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

磨 碓 占

Mortar, Pestle, Divination