China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 10-15

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/18..............................................................................10.15..............................................................Monthly Calendar Information

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

五

日期星

Tenth Month, Fifteenth Day

Sunday, October 15

————

 Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天天月天

醫喜德德

Heavenly Exemplarity

Lunar Exemplarity

Heavenly Happiness

Heavenly Physician

————

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

吉凶凶

酉巳丑

凶吉中

戌午寅

吉吉中

亥未卯

吉中中

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

1:00-3:00 In-Between

3:00-5:00 In-Between

5:00-7:00 In-Between

7:00-9:00 Inauspicious

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

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

塔苫作修

厠蓋灶厨

Repairing Kitchens

Stove Work

Thatched Coverings

Building Toilets

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

一

丙

午

水

星

成

First Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: bingzi (43/60)

Phase (element): Water

"Constellation Personality: Asterism (25/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

日修嫁祭

環造娶祀

食動納入

我土采學

國上移會

不樑徙友

可安開出

見葬市行

兀下

陽天班馬

將刑煞口

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Graves

The Moon Will Be Completely Eclipsed

(not observable in Hong Kong)

Lower Amputee

Baleful Asterisms

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

Equine Orifice

Classified Balefulness

Heavenly Punishment

Yang General

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)

碓 灶 厨

Pestle, Stove, Kitchen