December 16, 2026 Chinese almanac
Calendar and pillars
- Gregorian
- December 16, 2026 · Wednesday
- Chinese lunar
- month 11, day 8
- Japanese old calendar
- month 11, day 8
- Year pillar
- Bing-Wu (丙午)
- Month pillar
- Geng-Zi (庚子)
- Day pillar
- Jia-Zi (甲子)
Suitable for
- Trade
- Take in a household member
- Make offerings
- Bathe
- Catch game
- Encoffin
- End mourning
- Put on mourning dress
- Burial
- Thank the earth spirits
- Open a grave
- Repair a tomb
Best avoided
- Hold a Daoist rite
- Move into a new home
- Build or repair
- Break ground
- Break ground for a burial
Day spirits and mansion
- Clash
- Clashes with horse (Wu-Wu (戊午))
- Hostile direction
- South
- Day officer (建除)
- Establish (建)
- Day spirit (十二天神)
- Golden Case (金匮) · Yellow Path day (auspicious)
- Lunar mansion (28 mansions)
- Winnowing Basket (箕) · Auspicious
- Mansion animal
- leopard
- Ruling luminary
- Mercury
Directions
- Wealth direction
- Northeast
- Joy direction
- Northeast
- Fortune direction
- North
Japanese calendar notes (old calendar, rokuyo, lucky days)
- Rokuyo
- Shakkō
- Lucky and unlucky days
- Tenshanichi (Heaven’s Pardon Day), Ichiryūmanbai-bi, Kinoe-ne (Jia-Zi) day
- Tenshanichi (Heaven’s Pardon Day): Falls on Wu-Yin in spring, Jia-Wu in summer, Wu-Shen in autumn and Jia-Zi in winter (by solar month).
- Ichiryūmanbai-bi: Set by the solar month and the day branch; the day of a solar term counts as the new month by Tokyo date.
- Kinoe-ne (Jia-Zi) day: The day pillar is Jia-Zi.
FAQ
Where do the almanac’s “suitable” and “avoid” entries come from?
They are looked up in traditional almanac tables from the day’s stem-branch, day officer, day spirit and lunar mansion. They are not a judgement about any person, and schools differ on individual terms; this page uses the common almanac convention.
Why does Japan’s calendar sometimes differ by a day from the Chinese lunar calendar?
Japan’s old calendar starts each month on the day of the new moon in Tokyo time, China’s lunar calendar in Beijing time. When the new moon falls between 23:00 and midnight in Beijing, it is already the next day in Tokyo, so the Japanese month starts a day later and the rokuyo shift with it.
What are Tenshanichi and Ichiryumanbai-bi?
Tenshanichi falls on the Wu-Yin day in spring, Jia-Wu in summer, Wu-Shen in autumn and Jia-Zi in winter, and is treated as the most auspicious day of the season to begin something new. Ichiryumanbai-bi is set by the solar month and the day branch and means one grain becoming ten thousand. Both are Japanese folk day-selection customs without a scientific basis.
The dos and don’ts are entries from traditional almanacs. They are folk reference only, guarantee nothing and are not medical, legal or investment advice.
Sources: almanac entries come from the lunar-javascript library (solar-term days by Beijing date); the Japanese old calendar fixes new moons in Tokyo time, and the Japanese day officer, solar month and lucky days use solar-term days by Tokyo date, checked against the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan; lucky-day rules are described on the page.