China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2023 10-21

 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)

廿

一

六期星

Tenth Month, Twenty-First Day

Saturday, October 21

————

 Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)天時四歲

天時四歲

恩德相祿

Generational Emolument

Four Facings

Timely Exemplarity

Heavenly Kindness

————

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

凶凶吉

酉巳丑

凶吉吉

戌午寅

中凶吉

亥未卯

中吉吉

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

1:00-3:00 Auspicious

3:00-5:00 Auspicious

5:00-7:00 Auspicious

7:00-9:00 Inauspicious

9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious

13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 Inauspicious

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 In-Between

————

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

忌

進新放開

水船水渠

Opening Irrigation Sluices

Putting-into Water

New Boats

Entering Water

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

七

壬

子

木

氐

滿

Seventh Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: renzi (49/60)

Phase (element): Wood

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

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

事用王土

————

宜

入開出祭

倉市行祀

成立裁入

服約衣學

安交理會

葬易髮友

忌歸

陽灾鼠水

將煞口痕

Soil King Usage Affairs

(a system for dividing the year into five seventy-two day segments)

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Opening Markets

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Entering Granaries

Completing Clothing

Positioning Graves

Return Taboo

Baleful Asterisms

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

Water Scar

Rat Mouth

Disastrous Balefulness

Yang General

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

白 地

White, Earth

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

碓 庫 倉

Pestle, Storehouse, Granary