China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 09-26

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/27...........................................................................................................................................................9/20

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

六

二期星

Ninth Month, Twenty-Sixth Day

Tuesday, September 26

————

 Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

福驛相

德馬日

Facing Days

Postal Horse

Fortunate Exemplarity

————

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

中中中

酉巳丑

凶凶吉

戌午寅

吉吉吉

亥未卯

吉吉凶

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Inauspicious

7:00-9:00 In-Between

9:00-11:00 Inauspicious

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between

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

除嫁理

服娶髮

Patterning Hair

Marriage Alliances

Discarding Clothing

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

二

丁

亥

土

尾

滿

Twelfth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: dinghai (24/60)

Phase (element): Earth

"Constellation Personality: Tail (6/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

修裁祭

造衣祀

動移祈

土徙福

安開會

牀市友

作交出

灶易行

日重

俱五上

將虛兀

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Cutting-out Clothing

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Doubled Days

Baleful Asterisms

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

Upper Amputee

Five Voids

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)

倉

牀 庫

Granary

Bed, Storehouse