Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"
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5/8....................................................................................................................................................4/30
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.
(top to bottom, right to left)
Section Four
Activities to Avoid
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
一五
日月
五期星
Fifth Month, First Day
Friday, May 1
————
Section Two
Beneficent Stars
Beneficent Stars
(top to bottom, right to left)
德歲
日支
Generational Branch
Exemplary Days
————
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left)
申辰甲
(top to bottom, right to left)
申辰甲
吉中凶
酉巳乙
中凶吉
戌午寅
凶中吉
亥未卯
中吉吉
23:00-1:00 Inauspicious
01:00-03:00 Auspicious
03:00-05:00 Auspicious
05:00-07:00 Auspicious
07:00-09:00 In-Between
09:00-11:00 Inauspicious
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
嫁栽
娶種
Planting and Cultivating
Marriage Alliances
————
Section Five
Cosmological Information
Cosmological Information
十
五
乙
亥
火
亢
危
Fifteenth Day Day (Third Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: yihai (12/60)
Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality: Neck (2/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)
————
Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
宜
拆
卸
掃
舎
游上
禍朔
天重
賊日
Appropriate Activities
Unhitching and Unloading
Sweeping Rooms
Baleful Asterisms
(top down, starting on the right; two characters each)
Upper Decade
Doubled Days
Natatorial Disaster
Heavenly Thief
Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English, however, "fits" below each character)
丫 林
Bifurcation, Copse
————
Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items
(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English,
however, "fits" intuitively in the configuration of characters)
碓
牀磨
Pestle
Bed, Mortar
