The Sixty Activities of the Chinese Almanac: What Each One Means
What do entries such as sending betrothal gifts, setting up a bed, breaking ground for a grave or exhuming for reburial mean? Every activity in the almanac's list, explained in plain English, following the Imperial Almanac (Xieji Bianfang Shu).
Where the sixty activities come from
The items listed after "favourable" and "unfavourable" in an almanac, such as offering sacrifices, sending betrothal gifts or setting up a bed, are a fixed set. Chapter 11 of the Imperial Almanac (Xieji Bianfang Shu) explains that it combined the 67 imperial and 37 common activities of the Qing statutes with the almanac's sixty activities into one list, recording under each activity the spirits that favour or forbid it:
大清會典載萬年書御用六十七事民用三十七事通書載選擇六十事今以次合為一編而分列宜忌於事下依事之次第察其所宜忌之日而分註之則輕重去取可辨矣
— Imperial Almanac (Xieji Bianfang Shu), 卷十一
Popular almanacs use the "sixty activities of the almanac", and this site posts each day's entries onto them. Under that heading the book actually lists 58 names; here they are in the book's order.
The sixty activities explained
These explanations are compiled by this site in plain modern language; the book lists the names only and does not explain them.
| Activity | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Offer sacrifices (祭祀) | Worship ancestors and deities |
| Pray for blessings (祈福) | Pray to the gods for blessings |
| Pray for offspring (求嗣) | Pray for children |
| Receive honours (上册受封) | Receive an investiture (originally a court rite) |
| Submit petitions (上表章) | Submit a memorial to the throne; today, any important document |
| Inherit titles (袭爵受封) | Inherit a title or receive honours (originally a court rite) |
| Meet relatives and friends (会亲友) | Visit relatives and friends; gatherings and banquets |
| Begin schooling (入学) | Start school, take a teacher, begin studies |
| Coming-of-age rites (冠带) | The capping ceremony, the traditional coming-of-age rite |
| Travel (出行) | Set out on a journey |
| Take up a post (上官赴任) | An official taking up a post; today, starting a new job |
| Attend to official duties (临政亲民) | An official handling affairs and meeting the public |
| Agree a marriage (结婚姻) | Agree on a marriage |
| Send betrothal gifts (纳采问名) | Betrothal rites: sending gifts and asking the bride's name and birth details |
| Wedding (嫁娶) | The wedding itself |
| Take in household members (进人口) | Bring someone into the household, such as adopting a child or hiring help |
| Move house (移徙) | Move house |
| Return from afar (远回) | Return home from a long journey |
| Set up a bed (安床) | Set up a bed, often for newlyweds or a new home |
| Cleansing rites (解除) | Clean the house and dispel misfortune |
| Bathe (沐浴) | Bathe and purify oneself |
| Haircut (剃头) | Have a haircut, especially a baby's first haircut |
| Trim nails (整手足甲) | Trim fingernails and toenails |
| Seek medical treatment (求医疗病) | See a doctor and treat illness |
| Treat the eyes (疗目) | Treat eye ailments |
| Acupuncture (针刺) | Acupuncture |
| Cut cloth for clothes (裁衣) | Cut cloth to make clothes |
| Build embankments (筑堤防) | Build dikes and embankments |
| Build and break ground (修造动土) | Build or repair a house and break ground |
| Raise pillars and beams (竖柱上梁) | Raise the pillars and the main beam of a house |
| Repair storehouses (修仓库) | Repair storehouses |
| Cast metal (鼓铸) | Smelt and cast metal |
| Roofing (苫盖) | Cover a roof with thatch or mats |
| Weaving (经络) | Spinning and weaving: winding silk and setting up the loom |
| Brewing (酝酿) | Brew wine or make sauces |
| Open for business (开市) | Open a business |
| Sign contracts and trade (立券交易) | Sign contracts and trade |
| Receive money (纳财) | Take in money and goods; collect debts |
| Release goods from storehouses (开仓库出货财) | Open storehouses and pay out goods or money |
| Prepare a delivery room (修置产室) | Prepare a room for childbirth |
| Dig channels and wells (开渠穿井) | Dig channels and wells |
| Install mortars and millstones (安碓硙) | Install a pestle-mortar and a millstone |
| Mend walls and fill holes (补垣塞穴) | Mend walls and block up holes |
| Sweep the house (扫舍宇) | Sweep and clean the house |
| Plaster walls (修饰垣墙) | Plaster and decorate walls |
| Level roads (平治道涂) | Level and repair roads |
| Demolish buildings (破屋坏垣) | Demolish houses and walls |
| Fell trees (伐木) | Fell trees |
| Trap and catch (捕捉) | Catch animals; make arrests |
| Hunt (畋猎) | Go hunting |
| Fish (取鱼) | Go fishing |
| Cross water by boat (乘船渡水) | Take a boat across water |
| Plant (栽种) | Plant crops |
| Herd livestock (牧养) | Herd and raise livestock |
| Acquire livestock (纳畜) | Buy or take in livestock |
| Break ground for a grave (破土) | Dig a grave for burial |
| Burial (安葬) | Bury the dead |
| Exhume for reburial (启攒) | Open a grave and remove the remains for reburial |
Activities that are easy to confuse
- Build and break ground vs. Break ground for a grave: the first is construction work on a house; the second is digging a grave for a burial. (Compiled by this site.)
- Agree a marriage, Send betrothal gifts and Wedding: the first is agreeing on the match, the second the betrothal rites, and only the third is the wedding itself. To choose a wedding date, look at "Wedding". (Compiled by this site.)
- Move house vs. moving into a new home: the sixty activities have no separate entry for moving into a new home (入宅); for moving house, look at "Move house". (Compiled by this site.)
All quotations in this guide are from the Imperial Almanac (Xieji Bianfang Shu) and have been checked against the book; other explanations are compiled by this site.