zhwj Posted January 23, 2008 at 03:02 PM Report Posted January 23, 2008 at 03:02 PM It's that time of year again, when they've started selling bootleg editions of Hong Kong almanacs on the streets of Beijing. I noticed two versions last year, by 黄震宇 and 宋韶光, and they seem to be the ones on the stands this year, too. Questions: are there standard English translations for the various the actions that are governed by the daily taboos, things like 移徙 and 破屋? Is there a set number, or do different almanacs cover different actions? Quote
studentyoung Posted January 24, 2008 at 01:20 AM Report Posted January 24, 2008 at 01:20 AM are there standard English translations for the various the actions that are governed by the daily taboos, things like 移徙 and 破屋? No.According to Chinese almanac, all actions are governed by Heavens. In Chinese traditions, no matter what Chinese people do, they want to make sure that their actions aren't against the will of Heavens. That’s why they need almanac as a guideline in their daily life. Is there a set number, or do different almanacs cover different actions? Hehe. Please check the link below. http://cache.baidu.com/c?word=%BB%C6%C0%FA%2C%B0%E6%B1%BE%3B%B2%BB%3B%CD%AC&url=http%3A//www%2Ebastv%2Ecom/info/show%2Ephp%3Fid%3D1225&p=b47fc54ad0c505ed42be9b7f0f0ecd&user=baidu 老黄历咋有不同版本专家提醒：“黄道吉日”不科学 Cheers! Quote
Lu Posted January 24, 2008 at 06:45 AM Report Posted January 24, 2008 at 06:45 AM I often translate those, and this is a list of the translations I use. Not sure where they come from originally. I don't think there is a standard, I believe the translations were just thought up by the translation desk (some of them by myself). It's a good/bad day for... 立券交易 Making business transactions 出火 Moving an ancestral altar 出行 Travelling 栽衣 Mending clothes 動土 Breaking ground for construction 開市 Opening a shop/company 開光 Enshrining a statue of Buddha 安門 Installing doors 安床 Installing beds 破土 Breaking ground for graves 啟攢 Cleaning bones of a buried body before placing them into an urn or tomb 安葬 Burying a body/Burials 入宅 Moving into a new house 嫁娶 Getting married 破屋壞垣 Demolishing buildings 合帳 Mending mosquito nets 結網 Mending nets 造車器 Building a boat or other water transportation 解除 Cleaning house, eliminating disasters 塞穴 Blocking caves or ant hils 畋獵 Hunting 牧養 Buying pets or livestock 捕捉 Exterminating ants and other vermin in house or on fields 開井 Digging wells I have the feeling there is a limited number of them, but I can't say for sure, every once in a while I run into one I haven't seen before. I hope this helps! Quote
zhwj Posted January 24, 2008 at 12:22 PM Author Report Posted January 24, 2008 at 12:22 PM That's exactly what I was looking for, Lu. Thanks. The text I'm working has many of those but also a number of additional special tasks like 成服 and 合寿木, as well as everyday things like cutting finger and toe-nails, getting accupuncture, and accepting payments. Some of them aren't at all intuitive. 启攒 I never would have understood (partly because my text has 启钻, which makes even less sense). Quote
studentyoung Posted January 25, 2008 at 01:09 AM Report Posted January 25, 2008 at 01:09 AM Some of them aren't at all intuitive. 启攒 I never would have understood (partly because my text has 启钻, which makes even less sense). qǐ zǎn启攒 ________________________________________ 犹出葬。停放棺木，暂时不葬谓攒。 http://www.zdic.net/cd/ci/7/ZdicE5Zdic90ZdicAF114264.htm 也称洗骨葬即二次葬，又称捡骨葬。一般是指人死之后，或暂时掩埋初葬，或将灵枢暂时停放，经过一段时间，待死者肌肉腐化掉，再把骨酪收拾起来举行骨葬仪式，将死者骨酪埋人墓穴。由于要掘墓开棺捡出死者遗骨，用水洗干净，置于瓮或木匣内再行安葬，所以俗称洗骨葬或捡骨葬。 http://cache.baidu.com/c?word=%C6%F4%3B%D4%DC&url=http%3A//zhidao%2Ebaidu%2Ecom/question/9844450%2Ehtml&p=9f6df90085cc41a90fbd9b7c574d&user=baidu#baidusnap0 Cheers! Quote
fireball9261 Posted January 25, 2008 at 10:30 PM Report Posted January 25, 2008 at 10:30 PM 合帳 Mending mosquito nets I remember this term was used for "auditing account books" in the old time, especially for the owners of companies to chech/audit the account books of their accountants in various levels. Although this phrase is currently being used a little bit differently, but for the Chinese almanac it should still follow the old usage. 合 in this case means "calculation" because the owners must calculate and match all the numbers together in order to check them for correctness. 帳 = 賬 => bills, accounting books. Please see: http://zdic.net/zd/zi/ZdicE8ZdicB4ZdicA6.htm (in ancient time, 賬 is 帳). Quote
Lu Posted January 26, 2008 at 07:30 AM Report Posted January 26, 2008 at 07:30 AM So perhaps it doesn't have anything to do with mosquito nets after all? I kept thinking it was a bit of a weird one anyway. Do you have any source for that explanation? I know two websites that explain what a lot of the phrases mean, and both say it's about mending mosquito nets. Zhwj: Here are those two sites, they translate Chin-Chin, so you still have to come up with your own translation, but at least you know what it means. www.min.com.tw/yellow/select1/index.asp/www.thinkerstar.com/lu/books/ycalendar/date.html Quote
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