Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"
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2/9...................................................................................................................................................2/2
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.
Solar Calendar Date
(top to bottom, right to left)
五
月
一期星
Second Month, Fifth Day
Monday, February 5
————
Section Two
Beneficent Stars
(top to bottom, right to left)
不三歲
將合支
Generational Branch
Three Linkages
Not General
————
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left)
申辰甲
凶中吉
酉巳丑
中凶凶
戌午寅
凶吉吉
亥未卯
凶吉吉
23:00-1:00 Auspicious
1:00-3:00 Inauspicious
3:00-5:00 Auspicious
5:00-7:00 Auspicious
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 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
21:00-23:00 Inauspicious
————
Section Four
Activities to Avoid
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
忌
行除嫁
喪服娶
Marriage Alliances
Discarding Clothing
Mourning Visits
Section Five
Cosmological Information
廿
六
己
亥
木
張
收
Twenty-Sixth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: jihai (36/60)
Phase (element): Wood
"Constellation Personality: Drawn Bow (26/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Receive (10/12)*
*Occasionally, a "day personality repeats, as it does today.
————
Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top to bottom; left to right)
宜
捕開祭
捉市祀
開立祈
倉約福
栽交會
種易友
納醞理
畜釀髮
日重
河劫上
魁煞兀
Appropriate Activities
(top down, starting on the right; two characters each)
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Opening Markets
Making Appointments
Trade and Commerce
Fermenting Beverages
Seizing and Capturing
Opening Granaries
Planting and Cultivating
Livestock Payments
Doubled Days
Baleful Asterisms
(top down, starting on the right; two characters each)
Upper Amputee
Plundered Balefulness
River Stalwart
Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English, however, "fits" directly below each character)
丫 州
Bifurcation, Landmass
————
Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items
(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English,
however, "fits" intuitively in the configuration of characters)
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