China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 08-23

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
8/28.........................................................................................................................................................8/21

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

三

一期星

Eighth Month Twenty-Third Day

Wednesday, August 23

————

 Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天合歲

德日德

Generational Exemplarity

Linked Days

Heavenly Exemplarity

————

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

吉吉吉

酉巳丑

凶吉吉

戌午寅

吉中凶

亥未卯

中凶吉

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Inauspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 Auspicious

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 Auspicious

21:00-23:00 In-Between

————

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

忌

合裁詞

帳衣訟

Lawsuits and Litigation

Cutting-out Clothing

Binding Sails

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

八

癸

丑

木

軫

執

Eighth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: guichou (50/60)

Phase (element): Wood

"Constellation Personality: Running Board (28/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

暑處

零十酉

一七初

分時    

宜

開訂祭

倉婚祀

安動出

葬土行

鳥祭乃鷹

歸小長

忌耗星

Termination of Heat

At the beginning of the you hour; 17:01 o'clock

(the fourteenth of twenty-four five day solar periods on the agricultural calendar)

Appropriate Activities

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Moving Soil

Opening Granaries

Positioning Graves

Raptor Sacrificed Birds

(the fortieth of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods on teh agricultural calendar)

Baleful Asterisms

(top down, starting on the right; two characters each)

Long Star

Small Squander

Return Taboo

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)

房

厠 牀

Edifice

Toilet, Bed