China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2024 07-01

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
7/5...................................................................................................................................................6/27

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)

一七

日月

一期星

Seventh Month, First Day

Monday, July 1

————

 Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天月歲歲

喜德馬祿

Generational Emolument

Generational Equinity

Lunar Exemplarity

Heavenly Happiness

————

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

凶凶凶

酉巳乙

吉中中

戌午寅

凶吉中

亥未卯

中中吉

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

 01:00-03:00 In-Between

 03:00-05:00 Auspicious

 05:00-07:00 Auspicious

07:00-09:00 Inauspicious

  09:00-11:00 In-Between

11:00-13:00 Auspicious

13:00-15:00 In-Between

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

祈祭作修

福祀灶厨

Repairing Kitchens

Stove Work

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

———

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

六

丙

寅

火

心

成

Twenty-Sixth Day (Fifth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: bingyin (3/60)

Phase (element): Fire

"Constellation Personality: Heart-Mind (5/28)

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

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

修交納入

倉易采學

裁修嫁會

衣造娶友

納動醫出

畜土病行

安上開訂

葬樑市婚

生夏半

陽白歸下

將虎忌兀

Appropriate Activities

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

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Marriage Alliances

Physician Visits

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

 Repairing Granaries

Planting and Cultivating

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves

Crowdipper Thrives

(the thirtieth of seventy-two five-day solar micro=periods on the agricultural calendar)

Baleful Asterisms

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

Lower Amputee

Return Taboo

White Tiger

Yang General

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

丫 水

Bifurcation, Water

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

爐 灶 厨

Furnace, Stove Kitchen