China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2024 03-24

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/31..........................................................................................................................................3/24

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

四

日期星

Third Month, Twenty-Fourth Day

Sunday, March 24

————

 Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不月天天

將恩醫喜

Heavenly Happiness

Heavenly Physician

Lunar Kindness

Not General

————

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

中中中

酉巳乙

凶凶吉

戌午寅

凶吉吉

亥未卯

吉吉凶

23:00-1:00 In-Between

 01:00-03:00 Auspicious

 03:00-05:00 Auspicious

 05:00-07:00 Inauspicious

07:00-09:00 In-Between

  09:00-11:00 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 Inauspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

忌

成除嫁理

服靈娶髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Marriage Alliances

Discarding Clothing

Completing Clothing

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

五

丁

亥

土

昂

成

Fifteenth Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: dinghai (24/60)

Phase (element): Earth

"Constellation Personality: Pleiades (18/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

修交出祭

倉易移祀

作修移祈

灶造徙福

栽動醫入

種土病學

納上開會

畜樑市友

兀上

元無重密

武祿日日

Appropriate Activities

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

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

 Going Out (and about)

Moving Residences

Physician Visits

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Repairing Granaries

Stove Work

Planting and Cultivating

Livestock Payments

Upper Amputee

Baleful Asterisms

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

Mysterious Days

Doubled Days

Without Emolument

Primal Martiality

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

丫

Bifurcation

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

牀 庫 倉

Bed, Storehouse, Granary