China's Lunar-Solar Calendar 2026 05-16

 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.                                                                                                   

                               Section One

                          Solar Calendar Date

                                      (top to bottom, right to left)

十

五

五期星

Fifth Month, Fifteenth Day

Friday, May 15

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

月天天玉

恩醫喜堂

Jade Hall

Heavenly Happiness

Heavenly Physician

Lunar Kindness

————

Section Three

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

吉中凶

酉巳乙

吉吉凶

戌午寅

中中吉

亥未卯

凶凶吉

23:00-1:00 Inauspicious

 01:00-03:00 Inauspicious

 03:00-05:00 Auspicious

 05:00-07:00 Auspicious

07:00-09:00 In-Between

  09:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 In-Between

13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

————

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

忌

取移冠詞

魚徙帶訟

Lawsuits and Litigation

Capping and Belting (Initiation Ceremonies)

Moving Residences

Garnering Piscinity

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿

九

己

丑

火

婁

成

Twenty-Ninth Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: jichou (26/60)

Phase (element): Fire

"Constellation Personality: Mound (16/28)

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

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information

宜

動醫出祭

土病行祀

上開訂祈

樑市婚福

納交納入

畜易采學

安修理會

葬造髮友

忌歸

招厭四五

搖碓擊祿

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

 Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)

Physician Visits

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves

Return Taboo

Baleful Asterisms

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

Without Emolument

Four Fisticuffs

Mutual Resentment

Rollicking Braggadocio

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 

(the Chinese is read from right to left; the English, however, "fits" below each character)

白 山

White, Mountain

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Items

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

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

厠 門 占

Toilet, Gate, Divination