China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2024 06-12

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/18...................................................................................................................................................6/10

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

二

三期星

Sixth Month, Twelfth Day

Wednesday, June 12

————

 Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天六守麒

貴合日麟

Unicorn

Protected Days

Six Linkages

Heavenly Nobility

————

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

中中凶

酉巳乙

吉吉凶

戌午寅

凶吉中

亥未卯

吉吉凶

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

 01:00-03:00 Inauspicious

 03:00-05:00 In-Between

 05:00-07:00 Inauspicious

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 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 Inauspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

忌

行成整理

喪服甲髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Trimming Nails

Completing Clothing

Mourning Visits

———

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

七

丁

未

水

壁

除

Seventh Day (Fifth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: dingwei (44/60)

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

安修嫁祭

牀造娶祀

作動納祈

灶土采福

栽上移會

種樑徙友

納修開出

畜倉市行

日復

陰重三水

將喪喪痕

Appropriate Activities

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

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

 Going Out (and about)

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Planting and Cultivating

Grain Payments

Repeated Days

Baleful Asterisms

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

Water Scar

Three Mournings

Doubled Mourning

Yin General

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)

厠 庫 倉

Toilet, Storehouse, Granary