Chinese almanac (老黄历 / Tung Shing). Pick any date for lunar date, stem-branch, zodiac, 宜 (auspicious) + 忌 (avoid) lists, 建除, 廿八宿, clash, 彭祖, fetus spirit, nine-star, solar term. Folk reference.
Daily Chinese Almanac (Huangli)
Dates and stem-branches are computed on the same calendar rules as the Hong Kong Observatory's Gregorian-Lunar conversion tables (UTC+8), for 1901 to 2100. The month stem-branch changes at each 節 (minor solar term); the day of the 節 already belongs to the new month.
The 建除 day officer follows the rule the Qing imperial manual 欽定協紀辨方書 (卷四) quotes from 曆書: the officer 建 falls on the day whose branch is the month's (寅 days in the first month), the other eleven follow in order, and at each 節 one officer is repeated (每月交節則疊兩值日). The manual's month tables (e.g. 卷二十一) list the officer of every stem-branch day of every month; this rule matches all 717 entries legible in the Wikisource text.
宜 and 忌 are looked up in the almanac table of the open-source lunar-javascript library, by the month and day stem-branch this page computes. The library's author notes its 宜/忌 may differ from other sources, and the Wikisource transcription of the manual's month tables leaves out their 宜/忌 grids, so this table has not been checked entry by entry against 協紀辨方書. The lists are the date-selection tradition's labels, not a forecast of how anything will turn out. The 廿八宿, clash, 彭祖, fetus-spirit and nine-star columns come from the same library.
The 黄道 hours use the same computation as Chinese auspicious hours (the rule the manual quotes from 考原 in 卷七): 子 is listed as 00:00–00:59 only, because from 23:00 it is already the next day's 子 hour. Times are Singapore clock time.
How to use
Pick the date to look up
The date picker defaults to today. Click it to choose any Gregorian date — check the almanac, scout an auspicious day, or look back at a birthday. Supported range: 1901-2100.
Read the Gregorian + lunar header
The top of the result shows that day's Gregorian date, lunar date, year stem-branch, day stem-branch, and zodiac sign so you can cross-reference the traditional calendar.
Understand 宜 (do) vs 忌 (avoid)
The green 宜 list shows activities the tradition considers favourable that day; the red 忌 list shows ones to avoid. Both are looked up in the open-source lunar-javascript almanac table (see the note above) and are folk reference only.
Scan the detail panel
Below you get the 建除 day officer, the day's 黄道 hours, the 廿八宿 mansion (with luck), clash + 煞 direction, 彭祖 百忌, fetus-spirit position, day/year nine-star, plus the day's solar term and festivals.
The Chinese Almanac (老黄历 / Tung Shing): A Folk Guide to Choosing Days
The 老黄历 — also written 黄历, 通书, or romanised Tung Shing in Cantonese — is a folk almanac that has circulated in China for centuries. Alongside the Gregorian and lunar date, it lists for every single day a set of 宜 (activities considered favourable) and 忌 (activities to avoid), plus traditional date-selection columns: the 建除 twelve day-officers, the 廿八宿 lunar mansions, the day's clash and inauspicious direction, the 彭祖 百忌 verses, the fetus-spirit position, and the nine-star reading. From weddings, ground-breaking, and shop-openings to travel, ancestor rites, and moving house, families once consulted the almanac to pick a "good day", and many households still keep one on the wall or by the door. This tool digitises that classical 通书 so you can look up any single date's full 宜忌 in seconds, in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, or English.
Where 宜 and 忌 come from
The do/avoid lists come out of a formal date-selection system: the stem-branch cycle and the solar terms place a roster of auspicious and inauspicious spirits (神煞) on each day, and the spirits decide the lists. Under Qianlong the Imperial Board of Astronomy reported that the court's own date-selection almanac was full of errors, and the throne had it rebuilt as the 欽定協紀辨方書 (its preface is dated 乾隆六年, the turn of 1741-42). The manual itself admits the sources it sorted contradicted each other: 此云吉而彼云凶，方稱宜而旋稱忌 — "one calls it lucky, another unlucky; one calls it suitable, the next to be avoided" (卷四). Printed almanacs still disagree on a given day's 宜忌. This tool reads the open-source lunar-javascript table, so it may differ from a paper almanac on your shelf. Treat any one almanac, this one included, as one voice in a long tradition rather than a verdict.
Making sense of the jargon
The 建除 twelve officers (建 establish, 除 remove, 满 full, 平 level, 定 stable, 执 hold, 破 break, 危 danger, 成 complete, 收 collect, 开 open, 闭 close) cycle through the days as twelve auspicious/inauspicious states. The 廿八宿 are the 28 lunar lodges of the Chinese sky, taken in turn one per day, each with a fixed luck label. The clash (沖) names the zodiac sign opposed that day and the inauspicious 煞 direction; the 彭祖 百忌 are two mnemonic taboos keyed to the day's stem and branch; the fetus-spirit position is a direction expectant households traditionally avoid; and the nine-star value is the 紫白 nine-star count, cycling by day and by year. The tool surfaces all of these standard columns together.
"To say 'do this and it is lucky, do this and it is unlucky, this brings fortune, this brings disaster' — the enlightened do not speak so." — the Qianlong Emperor, preface to the 協紀辨方書 (如曰如是則吉如是則凶如是則福如是則禍則明者所弗道也)
Cultural stance + disclaimer
The 老黄历 is a major vehicle of Chinese folk culture and remains a living tradition among Chinese communities in Hong Kong and across ASEAN, notably Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. But its date-selection 宜忌 have no scientific basis and are purely folk belief. This tool generates its results from published rules and an open data table and is for cultural-tradition + entertainment reference only; it never constitutes date-selection, legal, medical, financial, or any professional advice. For real-life milestones — marriage, moving, opening a business, signing contracts — rely on practical analysis, professional advice, and your own values, and treat the almanac as a fun cultural cross-reference rather than a decision rule. If it adds a little festive curiosity or a sense of cultural connection, that is its best use.
Hong Kong calls it 通勝 because 書 sounds like losing
黄历 is often explained as 皇历, the "imperial calendar": right through the Qing the Imperial Board of Astronomy issued each year's calendar, and private date-selectors printed their own 通书 from it.
The 欽定協紀辨方書's imperial preface is dated the twelfth month of 乾隆六年 (early 1742). It says plainly that the old court almanac "was made by the star officials and copied its errors along" (成於星官之手因訛襲謬) — which is why it was rebuilt.
Even the emperor conceded the folk rules could not all go: the new book "removes a few of the old errors, but long-standing custom cannot be wholly done away with, for the people's convenience" (較之舊本謬說少除然俗所久沿則亦不能盡去便民用也).
In Cantonese-speaking places the almanac is usually called 通胜: 书 (book) sounds like 输 (to lose), so it is swapped for the lucky 胜 (to win).
The 建除 officers advance one a day, except on the day of each 節, which repeats the previous day's officer (每月交節則疊兩值日) so that 建 lands back on the month's own branch.
The manual itself warns against reading the officer alone: 夫止以建除論吉凶未甚彰顯著明也 — "judging luck by 建除 alone is far from clear"; it weighs the officer together with the other spirits.
The manual's month tables give the officer of each of the sixty stem-branch days in each of the twelve months — 720 entries. This tool's rule agrees with every one of the 717 legible in the Wikisource transcription.
The 彭祖百忌 are two mnemonic taboos, one for the day's stem and one for its branch (e.g. "甲不开仓", "子不问卜"), attributed to Peng Zu, the legendary long-lived sage.
The almanac writes each 廿八宿 lodge as three characters: the lodge, one of the seven luminaries (日月火水木金土) and an animal — 角木蛟, 亢金龙. On 19 October 2026 it is 心月狐.
The one truly astronomical column is the solar term: each of the 24 is the moment the Sun's apparent longitude reaches a multiple of 15°, which can be computed and checked against the Hong Kong Observatory's tables. The nine-star is not astronomy — it is a count cycling by day and year.
Frequently Asked Questions
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The 宜忌 are folk tradition with no scientific basis. They form a thousand-year-old cultural custom, but "which day is good for what" cannot pass modern statistical scrutiny. This tool does not endorse their validity — it's for cultural + entertainment reference only.
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Because date-selection has multiple schools that weigh the 神煞 differently, almanacs routinely disagree on a given day. This tool's 宜忌 come from the open-source lunar-javascript almanac table, so they may differ from some printed almanacs — that is normal, and there is no single correct answer. The 建除 officer is computed by the 協紀辨方書 rule.
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Yes. The picker defaults to today, but you can set any date between 1901 and 2100 — to scout an auspicious day, revisit a birthday, or plan a festival. All computation runs locally in your browser.
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The green 宜 box lists activities traditionally considered favourable that day (rites, marriage, travel); the red 忌 box lists ones to avoid. Entries come from the lunar-javascript almanac table. If a box says it lists no items, the table has none for that day.
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建除 are twelve day-officers that cycle through the days; 廿八宿 are the 28 lunar lodges, taken one per day, each with a fixed luck label; 沖煞 marks the clashing zodiac sign and the inauspicious 煞 direction. All are standard almanac columns the tool lists together.
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The content is identical; only the script differs. In Traditional (zh-TW) mode the 宜忌 and clash terms convert to Traditional characters (e.g. 龍 instead of 龙) for readers in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and overseas.
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No. All almanac computation runs locally in your browser — no network requests, no model calls. RECATOOLS enforces zero-tracking + zero-storage for these inputs.
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Please don't use it as your only guide. The almanac is a cultural custom, not a decision tool. Weddings, openings, and moves should rest on practical conditions, professional advice, and family coordination. If picking an auspicious day adds ceremony and cultural connection, that's its value; if it makes you anxious or constrained, set it aside.
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Essentially yes — both are folk date-selection almanacs. 《通胜》 is the Hong Kong name (swapping 书/输 for the lucky 胜); printed editions are thicker, often with talismans, selection tables, and miscellany. This tool surfaces the core: the daily 宜忌 and 神煞 columns.
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There are only 24 solar terms a year, and festivals fall on specific days, so for most dates these two rows simply have nothing to show — blank is normal. The tool only fills them when that exact day is a solar term or festival.
Method & sources
How it computes
Lunar date, 干支, solar term and festivals: LunisolarKernel (UTC+8, 1901-2100, tested against HKO tables). 建除 = (day branch − month branch) mod 12, the month changing on the 節 day (欽定協紀辨方書 卷四). 黃道 hours: ShichenKernel (卷七). 宜/忌: lunar-javascript's table, keyed by the computed month and day 干支; 廿八宿, 沖煞, 彭祖, 胎神 and 九星 passed through from that library (AlmanacKernel).
What this tool implements
- 建除十二神 by the rule 欽定協紀辨方書 卷四 quotes from 曆書: 「其法從月建上起建…如正月建寅則寅日起建順行十二辰」, with the officer repeated on each 節 day (「每月交節則疊兩值日」). The rule agrees with all 717 officers legible in the manual's month tables (卷二十–卷三十一; 720 entries, three absent from the Wikisource transcription).
- Dates: the lunar date, day 干支 and 節 days are LunisolarKernel's, whose new years, leap months and term dates are tested against the Hong Kong Observatory's Gregorian-Lunar conversion tables. Swept over every day 1901-2100 against the lunar-javascript library: the day 干支 agrees on all 73,049 days; 建除 differs on five pinned days — 1911-05-06, 1912-01-06 and 1912-10-08 (pre-1914 term dates on Beijing mean time, where HKO lists the next day) and 1917-12-07 and 1927-09-08 (where HKO agrees with this page and the library runs a day late).
- The 黃道 hours are computed by the same function /chinese-auspicious-hours/ renders, so the two pages agree for any date: 子 is shown as 00:00–00:59 only, because 23:00 is already the next day's 子 hour.
- 宜/忌 are the lunar-javascript (6tail) table, keyed by the month and day 干支 this page computes. Its author notes the lists may differ from other sources, and the Wikisource transcription of the 月表 omits their 宜/忌 grids, so the table is NOT checked entry by entry against 協紀辨方書 — the page says so. They are presented as the tradition's labels, never as a forecast.
- Corrected 2026-10-19: a pull-quote 「黃曆宜忌,所以順天時、便民用,非以拘人也」 attributed to the 協紀辨方書 preface (it is not in the preface; replaced with a line that is, linked) and its English "paraphrase"; "before the Qing, almanacs were issued by the throne" (the Qing court issued them too); the nine-star called astronomical (only the solar terms are); 廿八宿 said to divide the ecliptic; an unsourced good/bad sorting of the 建除 officers; an unsourced Google Trends claim; an unsourced "top-selling" 通勝 claim; a 1900-2100 range (1900 is outside the tested calendar; now 1901-2100, enforced); the library's 无 placeholder shown as an activity; Hong Kong listed among ASEAN communities; 宜/忌 keyed by the library's own month, a day late on 1917-12-07 and 1927-09-08; an evidence note claiming an hour-by-hour breakdown the page did not show.
Sources
- 欽定協紀辨方書 (四庫全書本), 卷四 義例二 建除十二神, Wikisource: https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/欽定協紀辨方書_(四庫全書本)/卷04
- 欽定協紀辨方書, 卷二十–卷三十一 月表一–月表十二 (officer of each 干支 day by month; e.g. 卷二十一): https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/欽定協紀辨方書_(四庫全書本)/卷21
- 欽定協紀辨方書, 御製序 (乾隆六年) and 奏議 — the preface quoted on the page: https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/欽定協紀辨方書_(四庫全書本)
- 欽定協紀辨方書, 卷七 黄道黒道 (the hour rule, via ShichenKernel): https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/欽定協紀辨方書_(四庫全書本)/卷07
- Hong Kong Observatory. Gregorian-Lunar Calendar Conversion Table, 2026 (one file per year, 1901-2100): https://www.hko.gov.hk/en/gts/time/calendar/text/files/T2026e.txt
- lunar-javascript 1.7.7 by 6tail (MIT), vendored at /assets/vendor/lunar-javascript/ — 宜/忌 and pass-through tables: https://github.com/6tail/lunar-javascript ; 每日宜忌 API note: https://6tail.cn/calendar/lunar.yiji.html
What can make this go out of date
- None at runtime: every table is vendored and nothing is fetched.
- The supported range, 1901-01-01 to 2100-12-31, is the span of the HKO conversion tables the calendar is tested against; dates outside it are refused.
Pick up where you left off
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