China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 10-20

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/26..............................................................................................................................................................10.19

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)

二

十

五期星

Tenth Month, Twentieth Day

Friday, October 20

————

 Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十五德天

靈富合月

Heavenly Lunarity

Exemplary Linkage

Five Abundances

Ten Spirits

————

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

中凶中

酉巳丑

凶凶吉

戌午寅

吉吉吉

亥未卯

中吉吉

23:00-1:00 In-Between

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 Inauspicious

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 In-Between

————

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

忌

動嫁造合

土娶酒醬

Mixing Sauces

Making Liquor

Marriage Alliances

Moving Soil

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

六

辛

亥

金

亢

除

Sixth Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: xinhai (48/60)

Phase (element): Metal

"Constellation Personality: Neck (2/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

作理會祭

灶髮友祀

安竪出祈
牀柱行福

牧上裁求

養樑衣嗣

納安移入

畜門徙學

符土

劫五重大

  煞虛日亡空

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Seeking Inheritance

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Moving Residences

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Erecting Pillars

Raising Beams

Positioning Gates

Stove Work

Positioning Beds

Tending Flocks

Livestock Payments

Soil Charm

Baleful Asterisms

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

Great Loss-Vacancy

Doubled Days

Five Voids

Classified Balefulness

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

白 林

White, Copse

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

牀 灶 厨

Bed, Stove, Kitchen