China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2024 06-13

 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

三

四期星

Sixth Month, Thirteenth Day

Thursday, June 13

————

 Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不月福

將恩德

Fortunate Exemplarity

Lunar Kindness

Not General

————

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

吉吉中

酉巳乙

中吉吉

戌午寅

凶中凶

亥未卯

中吉中

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

 01:00-03:00 Auspicious

 03:00-05:00 Inauspicious

 05:00-07:00 In-Between

07:00-09:00 Auspicious

  09:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 In-Between

13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

17:00-19:00 In-Between

19:00-21:00 Inauspicious

21:00-23:00 In-Between

————

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

忌

安置買

牀業田

Purchasing Land

Setting-up Industry

Positioning Beds

———

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

八

戊

申

土

奎

滿

Eighth Day (Fifth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: wushen (45/60)

Phase (element): Earth

"Constellation Personality: Astride (15/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

修裁祭

造衣祀

動移祈

土徙福

上理出

樑髮行

成開嫁

服市娶

離五

五孤下

虛辰兀

Appropriate Activities

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

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Moving Residences

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Opening Markets

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Completing Clothing

Five Separations

Baleful Asterisms

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

Lower Amputee

Orphan Dawn

Five Voids

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

白 地

White, Earth

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

房

爐 牀

Edifice

Furnace, Bed