China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2024 05-17

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/20................................................................................................................................................5/13

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)

十

七

五期星

Fifth Month, Seventeenth Day

Friday, May 17

————

 Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天王天

恩日德

Heavenly Exemplarity

Kingly Days

Heavenly Kindness

————

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

中中中

酉巳乙

凶吉吉

戌午寅

凶吉吉

亥未卯

凶吉中

23:00-1:00 In-Between

 01:00-03:00 Auspicious

 03:00-05:00 Auspicious

 05:00-07:00 In-Between

07:00-09:00 In-Between

  09:00-11:00 Auspicious

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 Inauspicious

————

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

忌

動遠合

土行醬

Mixing Sauces

Distant Travels

Moving Soil

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

十

辛

巳

金

婁

建

Tenth Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: xinsi (18/60)

Phase (element): Metal

"Constellation Personality:  Mound (16/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Establish (1/12)

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

醫納祭

病采祀

上嫁祈

樑娶福

結裁會

網衣友

納移訂

畜徙婚

不債

俱土重

將府日

Appropriate Activities

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

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing

Moving Residences

Physician Visits

Raising Beams

Binding Nets

Livestock Payments

Debt Not

Baleful Asterisms

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

Doubled Days

Soil Palace

Everything General

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

人 州

Person, Landmass

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

厨

牀 灶

Kitchen

Bed, Stove