China's Lunar Calendar 2020 09-03

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/8.................................................................................................................9/1

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. 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. 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.

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

三
日

四期星

Ninth Month, Third Day
Thursday, September 3
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)
進除陰
神神德

Yin Exemplarity
Abandoning Spirits
Entering Spirits

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
吉吉吉
酉巳丑
中吉凶
戌午寅
中凶凶
亥未卯

凶吉凶
23:00-01:00 Auspicious

01:00-03:00 Inauspicious
03:00-05:00 Inauspicious
05:00-07:00 Inauspicious

07:00-09:00 Auspicious
9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious
 13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

 ————

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

忌
取田栽
魚獵種

Planting and Cultivating
Field Venery (Hunting)
Garnering Piscinity (Goin' Fishin')

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
六
己
酉

土
斗
除

Sixteenth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: jiyou (46/60)

Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Southern Ladle (8/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
上掃祭
樑舎祀
安裁祈
牀衣福
除修沐
服造浴
安動理
葬土髮
池咸
五上大
 離兀亡空
————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Bubbling and Bathing
Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Sweeping Rooms
Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Discarding Clothing
Positioning Graves

Widespread Pond

Baleful Astral Influences

Great Loss-Void
Upper Amputee
Five Separations

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese should be read right to left, 
but the English translation is underneath each character)
丫 人

Bifurcation, Person
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items 
(the Chinese should be read top-to-bottom, and right-to-left;
the English translation for is under the bottom characters)

占
門 大

Divination
Gate, Great

China's Lunar Calendar 2020 09-02

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/8.................................................................................................................9/1

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. 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. 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.

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

二
日

三期星

Ninth Month, Second Day
Wednesday, September 2
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)
不天歲
將赦祿

Generational Emolument
Heavenly Amnesty
Not General

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
吉吉中
酉巳丑
中吉吉
戌午寅
中凶凶
亥未卯

中吉中
23:00-01:00 In-Between

01:00-03:00 Auspicious
03:00-05:00 Inauspicious
05:00-07:00 In-Between

07:00-09:00 Auspicious
9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious
 13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 In-Between

 ————

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

忌
動安置
土牀產

Setting-up Production
Positioning Beds
Moving Soil

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
五
戊
申

土
箕
建

Fifteenth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: wushen (45/60)

Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Winnowing Basket (7/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Establish (1/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
元中
————
宜
上裁祭
樑移祀
納徙出
畜徙行
安理嫁
葬髮娶
登乃禾
土猴五
府口離
————

Ghost Festival
(a traditional festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month)

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Cutting-out Clothing (Sewing and Tailoring)
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Raising Beams
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Grains Climb High and Ripen
(the forty-second of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods on the agricultural calendar)

Baleful Astral Influences

Five Separations
Monkey Mouth
Soil Palace

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese should be read right to left, 
but the English translation is underneath each character)
丫 鬼

Bifurcation, Ghost
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items 
(the Chinese should be read top-to-bottom, and right-to-left;
the English translation for is under the bottom characters)

房
爐 牀

Edifice
Furnace, Bed

China's Lunar Calendar 2020 09-01

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/8.................................................................................................................9/1

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. 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. 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.

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

一九
日月

二期星

Ninth Month, First Day
Tuesday, September 1
————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)
合月麒
日德麟

Unicorn
Lunar Exemplarity
Linked Days

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
中中中
酉巳丑
吉吉凶
戌午寅
中凶凶
亥未卯

吉吉凶
23:00-01:00 In-Between

01:00-03:00 Inauspicious
03:00-05:00 Inauspicious
05:00-07:00 Inauspicious

07:00-09:00 In-Between
9:00-11:00 Auspicious

11:00-13:00 Inauspicious
 13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Auspicious

19:00-21:00 In-Between

21:00-23:00 Auspicious

 ————

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

忌
針整理
灸甲髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Trimming Nails
Acupuncture and Moxibustion

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
四
丁
未

水
尾
閉

Fourteenth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical Day: bingwu (44/60)

Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Tail (6/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Closed (12/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
補修祭
塞造祀
捕動入
捉土學
成上訂
服樑婚
化築移
靈堤徙
忌月
天血五
賊支虛
————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Entering Study
Marriage Alliances
Moving Residence
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Constructing Dikes
Patching and Plugging
Seizing and Capturing
Completing Clothing
Transforming Spirits

Lunar Taboo

Baleful Astral Influences

Five Voids
Blood Branch
Heavenly Thief

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(the Chinese should be read right to left, 
but the English translation is underneath each character)
丫 山

Bifurcation, Mountain
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items 
(the Chinese should be read top-to-bottom, and right-to-left;
the English translation for is under the bottom characters)

倉
厠 庫

Granary
Toilet, Storehouse