China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2024 04-20

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
4/20............................................................................................................................................................4/14

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

六期星

Fourth Month, Twentieth Day

Saturday, April 20

————

 Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

生歲歲歲

氣馬祿德

Generational Exemplarity

Generational Emolument

Generational Equinity

Engendered Vapor

————

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

凶吉中

酉巳乙

吉中中

戌午寅

凶凶吉

亥未卯

中吉中

23:00-1:00 In-Between

 01:00-03:00 In-Between

 03:00-05:00 Auspicious

 05:00-07:00 In-Between

07:00-09:00 Auspicious

  09:00-11:00 In-Between

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious

13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 Inauspicious

21:00-23:00 In-Between

————

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

忌

祈祭出開

福祀財倉

Opening Granaries

Cash Outflow

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

二

甲

寅

水

胃

開

Twelfth Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: jiayin (51/60)

Phase (element): Water

"Constellation Personality: Stomach (17/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

安交移入

牀易徙學

開修醫會

渠造病友

置動理出

產圖髮行

成上開裁

服樑市衣

痕水

血厭八大

  忌對傳亡空

Appropriate Activities

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

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Moving Residences

Physician Visits

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Opening Irrigation Sluices

Setting-up Production

Completing Clothing

Water Scar

Baleful Asterisms

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

Great Loss-Void

Eight Specialties

Mutual Loathing

Blood Taboo

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

白 火

White, Fire

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

爐 門占

Furnace, Gate, Divination