Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"
⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/16....................................................................................................................................................5/9
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)
十
二
二期星
Fifth Month, Twelfth Day
Tuesday, May 12
————
Section Two
Beneficent Stars
Beneficent Stars
(top to bottom, right to left)
合天歲
日德德
Generational Exemplarity
Heavenly Exemplarity
Linked Days
————
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left)
申辰甲
(top to bottom, right to left)
申辰甲
吉凶凶
酉巳乙
吉吉中
戌午寅
吉中吉
亥未卯
凶中吉
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 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 In-Between
13:00-15:00 In-Between
15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
21:00-23:00 Inauspicious
————
Section Four
Activities to Avoid
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
忌
成作修
服灶厨
Repairing Kitchens
Stove Work
Completing Clothing
————
Section Five
Cosmological Information
Cosmological Information
廿
六
丙
戌
土
室
執
Twenty-Sixth Day (Third Lunar Month)
Cyclical Day: bingxu (23/60)
Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality: Room (13/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)
————
Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
宜
安納祭
牀采祀
結裁祈
網衣福
伐入會
木宅友
捕理訂
捉髮婚
日復
重小上
喪耗兀
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)
Remaining Home
Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Positioning Beds
Binding Nets
Felling Timber
Seizing and Capturing
Returning Days
Baleful Asterisms
(top down, starting on the right; two characters each)
Upper Amputee
Small Squander
Doubled Mourning
Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English, however, "fits" below each character)
丫 地
Bifurcation, Earth
————
Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items
(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English,
however, "fits" intuitively in the configuration of characters)
厨
栖 灶
Kitchen
Perch, Stove
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