China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2024 10-04

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/6............................................................................10/3....................................Monthly Calendar Information

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)

四

日

五期星

Tenth Month, Fourth Day

Friday, October 4

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

時三天母

陰合貴倉

Maternal Granary

Heavenly Nobility

Three Linkages

Timely Yin

————

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

吉中中

酉巳乙

凶吉吉

戌午寅

凶吉吉

亥未卯

吉凶凶

23:00-1:00 In-Between

 01:00-03:00 Auspicious

 03:00-05:00 Auspicious

 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 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

17:00-19:00 Inauspicious

19:00-21:00 Inauspicious

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

————

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

忌

成➗造合

服靈酒醬

Mixing Sauces

Making Liquor

Exorcising Spirits

Completing Clothing

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初

二

辛

丑

土

婁

定

Second Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: xinchou (38/60)

Phase (element): Earth

"Constellation Personality: Mound (16/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

(top to bottom; left to right)

宜

安入合祭

門宅帳祀

作修納出

灶倉財行

牧安理會

養牀髮友

納置移裁

畜產居衣

不債

復重死上

日喪氣兀

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Going Out (and about)

Meeting Friends

Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)

Binding Sails

Cash Payments

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Moving Households

Remaining At Home

Repairing Granaries

Positioning Beds

Setting-up Production

Positioning Gates

Stove Work

Tending Flocks

Livestock Payments

Debt Not

Baleful Asterisms

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

Upper Amputee

Death Vapor

Doubled Mourning

Returning Days

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 灶 厨

Toilet, Stove, Kitchen