December 22, 2026 in the Chinese Calendar
December 22, 2026 is a Tuesday; in the Chinese lunar calendar it is day 14 of the 11th month of the Year of the Fire Horse (冬月十四). The day pillar is 庚午 (Geng Wu), a Metal Horse day, number 7 in the sixty-day cycle. The Day Officer is Destruction and the day spirit is Life Governor: a Yellow Path day. At 04:50 Beijing time, the “Winter Solstice” solar term begins.
Date: December 22, 2026, Tuesday.
In the lunar calendar this is day 14 of the 11th month (冬月十四). The lunar year of the Fire Horse began on February 17, 2026.
Pillars: year 丙午, month 庚子, day 庚午. Counted from Lichun, this is the Year of the Fire Horse.
Solar term: “Winter Solstice” since December 22, 2026 at 04:50; next: “Minor Cold” on January 5, 2027 at 22:10.
Almanac for the Day
- Day Officer: Destruction (破). Traditionally good for: demolishing and dismantling the old. Not good for: almost everything else.
- Lunar mansion: Encampment · Shi (室), auspicious in the traditional list.
- Day spirit: Life Governor (司命) — Yellow Path (auspicious).
- Clash with the Rat (子): traditionally an unlucky day for people born in the Year of the Rat. Sha direction: north.
- Flying stars: 1 for the year, 7 for the month.
The Twelve Hours of the Day
| Hour | Clock time | Pillar | Hour spirit | Clash |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rat 子 | 23:00–01:00 from the evening before | 丙子 | Golden Coffer ● | Horse |
| Ox 丑 | 01:00–03:00 | 丁丑 | Heavenly Virtue ● | Goat |
| Tiger 寅 | 03:00–05:00 | 戊寅 | White Tiger ○ | Monkey |
| Rabbit 卯 | 05:00–07:00 | 己卯 | Jade Hall ● | Rooster |
| Dragon 辰 | 07:00–09:00 | 庚辰 | Heavenly Prison ○ | Dog |
| Snake 巳 | 09:00–11:00 | 辛巳 | Black Tortoise ○ | Pig |
| Horse 午 | 11:00–13:00 | 壬午 | Life Governor ● | Rat |
| Goat 未 | 13:00–15:00 | 癸未 | Hooked Array ○ | Ox |
| Monkey 申 | 15:00–17:00 | 甲申 | Azure Dragon ● | Tiger |
| Rooster 酉 | 17:00–19:00 | 乙酉 | Bright Hall ● | Rabbit |
| Dog 戌 | 19:00–21:00 | 丙戌 | Heavenly Punishment ○ | Dragon |
| Pig 亥 | 21:00–23:00 | 丁亥 | Vermilion Bird ○ | Snake |
Times are local clock times without a longitude correction and are not converted to another time zone: Beijing time only determines the day itself. The Rat hour (23:00–01:00) begins on the evening before and opens the day. ● means the hour spirit is on the Yellow Path (auspicious), ○ on the Black Path. For exact hour boundaries in your city, use the Chinese hours calculator.
Lists of what a day is good or bad for vary from one almanac to another; the generally accepted meanings of the twelve officers are given here. The calendar is calculated in Beijing time, as in Chinese almanacs.
Yellow Path Hours
The almanac rates not only the day but each of its twelve two-hour periods. On this day the Yellow Path hours are: Rat 子 (23:00–01:00), Ox 丑 (01:00–03:00), Rabbit 卯 (05:00–07:00), Horse 午 (11:00–13:00), Monkey 申 (15:00–17:00), Rooster 酉 (17:00–19:00). As in the table above, times are given without a longitude correction.
How to Read the Almanac
The day pillar 庚午 pairs the Heavenly Stem 庚 with the Earthly Branch 午. The sixty-day cycle runs without a break and ignores months and years, so the same pillar returns exactly 60 days later, on February 20, 2027.
The Day Officer (Destruction, 破) is one of the twelve “spirits” of the Tong Shu almanac. It is set by the day branch 午 relative to the month branch 子: on the day the two branches match, the officer is Establish, and the others follow in turn.
The day spirit Life Governor (司命) is one of the six “yellow” spirits: the almanac considers Yellow Path days lucky for new beginnings. The same scheme applies to hours: in the table above, ● marks Yellow Path hours and ○ Black Path hours.
The day branch 午 stands opposite the branch 子, the sign of the Rat. That is why tradition advises people born in a Year of the Rat not to start anything important on this day. The Sha direction, unfavorable on this day, is north.
You can open any other date in the Chinese calendar, see the whole month as a table on the December 2026 page, and find exact hour boundaries for your city with the Chinese hours calculator.
To pick a day for a specific purpose — moving house, a wedding, opening a business or a trip — use the Chinese calendar date selection: it checks every day against the almanac rules and your birth dates.
An Honest Look at the Method
The dates here are calculated precisely: new moons and solar terms from astronomical tables, cycles by the rules of the tradition. The almanac's recommendations remain tradition: different editions of the Tong Shu have different “good for / bad for” lists, and there is no verifiable evidence that they work.