Chinese Almanac

Chinese Almanac – January 2024

Solar terms this month · Day-by-day overview · Previous monthNext month

Lunar 2023, month 11, day 20 – Lunar 2023, month 12, day 21 · Each date shows its lunar day, any solar term or festival, and some suggested activities. Open a date for the full almanac; on a solar-term day, each activity notes the period it applies to.

Default timezone: Toronto

Today in the default timezone
Solar term or festival
Suggested activities (selection)

January 2024 · Almanac calendar
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
	1 11/20 Suggested Travel, taking office, meeting mentors or patrons, raising pillars	2 11/21 Suggested Clearing out the old, healing, cleaning, bathing	3 11/22 Suggested Worship, prayer, opening business, receiving wealth	4 11/23 Suggested Repairs, paving, plastering, levelling roads	5 11/24 Minor Cold Suggested 5 Jan 2024 00:00:00 (Toronto time) – 5 Jan 2024 15:49:19 (Toronto time): Marriage, bed setup, agreements, enrolment, betrothalSuggested 5 Jan 2024 15:49:19 (Toronto time) – 6 Jan 2024 00:00:00 (Toronto time): Repairs, paving, plastering, levelling roads	6 11/25 Suggested Marriage, bed setup, agreements, enrolment, betrothal
7 11/26 Suggested Construction, contracts, capturing, gathering, alliance	8 11/27 Suggested Demolition, seeking medical treatment (only destructive matters)	9 11/28 Suggested Worship, bed setup, felling timber	10 11/29 Suggested Marriage, opening business, enrolment, travel, groundbreaking (broadly auspicious)	11 12/1 Suggested Receiving wealth, acquisitions, taking in people, capturing	12 12/2 Suggested Opening business, enrolment, travel, prayer, groundbreaking	13 12/3 Suggested Burial, building embankments, sealing, mending walls
14 12/4 Suggested Travel, taking office, meeting mentors or patrons, raising pillars	15 12/5 Suggested Clearing out the old, healing, cleaning, bathing	16 12/6 Suggested Worship, prayer, opening business, receiving wealth	17 12/7 Suggested Repairs, paving, plastering, levelling roads	18 12/8 Laba Festival Suggested Marriage, bed setup, agreements, enrolment, betrothal	19 12/9 Suggested Construction, contracts, capturing, gathering, alliance	20 12/10 Greater Cold Suggested Demolition, seeking medical treatment (only destructive matters)
21 12/11 Suggested Worship, bed setup, felling timber	22 12/12 Suggested Marriage, opening business, enrolment, travel, groundbreaking (broadly auspicious)	23 12/13 Suggested Receiving wealth, acquisitions, taking in people, capturing	24 12/14 Suggested Opening business, enrolment, travel, prayer, groundbreaking	25 12/15 Suggested Burial, building embankments, sealing, mending walls	26 12/16 Suggested Travel, taking office, meeting mentors or patrons, raising pillars	27 12/17 Suggested Clearing out the old, healing, cleaning, bathing
28 12/18 Suggested Worship, prayer, opening business, receiving wealth	29 12/19 Suggested Repairs, paving, plastering, levelling roads	30 12/20 Suggested Marriage, bed setup, agreements, enrolment, betrothal	31 12/21 Suggested Construction, contracts, capturing, gathering, alliance

Solar terms this month

Minor Cold: 5 Jan 2024 15:49:19 Toronto (UTC-5)
Greater Cold: 20 Jan 2024 09:07:19 Toronto (UTC-5)

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How to read this almanac

Lunar calendar

The lunar date shows the lunar year, month and day, and marks leap months. The zodiac sign and year cycle on this page change at Li Chun (Start of Spring), not at Lunar New Year.

Year pillar

The year pillar changes at the moment of Li Chun, and the month pillar changes at the moment of each month's jie solar term, not on the first lunar day. The day pillar follows the calendar date. On a day when a solar term begins, the hours before and after can fall under different pillars, so this page lists the suggested and avoided activities for each period separately.

Na Yin

Na Yin is the traditional name given to each of the sixty stem-branch pairs. This page shows the Na Yin of the year, month and day pillars. It is a name only, not a measure of element strength.

Suggested

Suggested and avoided activities follow the day's Day Officer, lunar mansion, duty deity and spirits. They are traditional almanac categories, not personal advice, and use the same rules as VIP date selection. On a day when a solar term begins, the summary at the top covers only the period that includes midnight; the other periods are listed below.

Clash and Sha direction

The clashing zodiac and Sha direction are traditional almanac categories, not predictions for people born in that year. This page does not compare against anyone's chart or judge anyone's safety or health.

Twelve two-hour periods

The Zi period runs from 23:00 to 00:59 the next day and is shown as one row. Because the date changes at midnight, that row lists the hour pillar and duty deity for before and after midnight separately. The other periods are shown in local time, using the time offset for the selected date.

Twelve Day Officers

The Day Officer depends on the day branch relative to the solar-term month branch. Auspicious, usable, neutral and inauspicious are traditional almanac categories, not statements about outcomes.

Twenty-eight lunar mansions

The twenty-eight lunar mansions cycle one per day. This site counts from Net (Bi) on January 1, 2024. Mansion names, animal emblems and qualities follow that cycle. Other almanacs may count from a different starting day, so the mansion for a given date can differ.

Daily duty deity

Duty deities start from the Azure Dragon: the daily sequence follows the month branch and the hourly sequence follows the day branch. Yellow Way and Black Way are traditional names, not moral judgments, and do not mean anything is certain to happen.

Favourable and unfavourable spirits

The spirit list includes Year Breaker, Heavenly Virtue and Monthly Virtue from the same rules as the activities, plus other cyclic spirits added by this site. The added spirits do not change the suggested or avoided activities. On a day when a solar term begins, each period has its own full list.

Purple-white nine stars

The purple-white nine stars are shown for the year, month and day. The year star changes at Li Chun and the month star follows the solar-term month. The day star counts from the Jiazi day nearest each solstice: forward from One White after the winter solstice, backward from Nine Purple after the summer solstice. This is not a flying-star chart for a home, or a score for anyone's health or wealth.

Traditional deity directions

Joy, blessing, wealth and yang/yin noble directions are looked up from the day stem. For the blessing deity, this site uses the second common convention; other almanacs may differ. These directions are not personal feng shui instructions.

Solar terms and boundaries

Solar-term times are astronomical and shown in this page's timezone. The year and month pillars change at the twelve jie terms. The term in effect at midnight and any term that begins during the day are listed separately.

Traditional festivals and observances

Traditional festivals are listed by lunar date or solar term, and are not repeated in a leap month. New Year's Eve is the day before Lunar New Year. This is not a list of public holidays.

Sources and reference conventions

Lunar dates are checked against the Hong Kong Observatory's Gregorian–lunar conversion tables. Year and month pillars change at the solar-term moments. Na Yin, Pengzu and Tai Shen use traditional cyclic tables. The added spirits are only the cycles this site includes, not every almanac school. Activities, lunar mansions and duty deities use the same rules as VIP date selection and are not changed to match other almanacs.

Calendar source: Hong Kong Observatory Gregorian–Lunar conversion tables

Pengzu traditional verses

Pengzu verses are folklore, not medical advice. Never stop or delay medication or medical care because of an almanac or an old verse. Follow qualified healthcare professionals’ advice.

Tai Shen location (folklore)

Tai Shen is a traditional folklore location label. It makes no claim about pregnancy, fetal wellbeing or anyone’s health, and must not guide medical or pregnancy decisions.