China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2024 02-21

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
2/21.........................................................................................................................2/13

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

三期星

Second Month, Twenty-First Day

Wednesday, February 21

————

 Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天官麒

貴日麟

Unicorn

Official Days

Heavenly Nobility

————

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

凶中吉

酉巳丑

凶凶中

戌午寅

凶中吉

亥未卯

吉吉吉

23:00-1:00 Auspicious

 01:00-03:00 In-Between

 03:00-05:00 Auspicious

 05:00-07:00 Auspicious

07:00-09:00 In-Between

  09:00-11:00 Inauspicious

11:00-13:00 In-Between

13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 Inauspicious

19:00-21:00 Inauspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

忌

進新栽

水船種

Planting and Cultivating

New Boats

Entering Water

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

二

乙

酉

水

壁

除

Twelfth Day (First Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: yimao (52/60)

Phase (element): Water

"Constellation Personality: Eastern Wall (14/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

修嫁祭

灶娶祀

動理入

土髮學

安醫會

牀病友

作開出

灶市行

池咸

朱水下

雀痕兀

Appropriate Activities

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

Venerating Ancestors

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

 Going Out (and about)

Marriage Alliances

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Physician Visits

Opening Markets

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Widespread Pond

Baleful Asterisms

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

Lower Amputee

Water Scar

Vermilion Bird

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)

碓

門 磨

Pestle

Gate, Mortar