How to Pick a Chinese Calendar Good Day, and What to Do When Your Plans Land on an Avoid Day

A Chinese calendar good day is picked per activity, not per date. Open the almanac (通书, Tong Shu) at that date, check whether your activity is on the 宜 (suitable) or 忌 (avoid) list, then make sure the day doesn't clash with your zodiac sign. If your plans are already locked on an avoid day, treat the note as a prep list, not a verdict.

How to choose a Chinese calendar good day

The Chinese almanac prints several layers of notes for every day. For everyday plans, read these three, from the most specific:

1. The 宜 and 忌 lists for your activity. Look for the activity by name: 开市 (opening a business), 立券 (signing a contract), 交易 (buying and selling), 嫁娶 (a wedding), 纳采 (a marriage proposal), or 理发 (a haircut). These lists are built from the month pillar and the day pillar together, so they're the most detailed layer.
2. The day's clash (冲, chong). The almanac writes 冲 followed by one zodiac animal: the sign whose branch sits opposite the day's branch. There are six pairs: Rat and Horse, Ox and Goat, Tiger and Monkey, Rabbit and Rooster, Dragon and Dog, Snake and Pig. In date-selection tradition, a big event for someone of that sign is moved to another day.
3. The Day Officer (建除十二值星). One of twelve general characters for the day. It's useful when your activity isn't on either list.

The layers can disagree, which is why the order matters. When I checked SPYLL's almanac engine for Wednesday, September 30, 2026, the Day Officer was 开 (Open), whose general reading suits opening a business. The 忌 list for the same day included 开市. When two layers conflict, go with the activity list.

The almanac also names a day god, classed as 黄道 (good day) or 黑道 (less good day). That class comes from a separate table, so Tuesday, October 20, 2026 can be 黑道 and still list weddings under 宜.

Those six clash pairs are recorded in the branch-relation table SPYLL's engine uses. Two pairs set Water against Fire, two set Wood against Metal, and two are Earth against Earth. How the elements relate is covered in the 5 elements in BaZi.

The sign you check also has to be your BaZi sign, which changes at Li Chun, not at Lunar New Year. People born in January or early February often get this wrong, and Li Chun vs Lunar New Year explains why. If you're not sure of your BaZi sign, check it from your birth date before you match it against the clash column.

What the 12 Day Officers mean

The Day Officer comes from the distance between the day's branch and the month's branch. The day whose branch matches the month's branch is always 建 (Begin), and the sequence moves one step each day. The month here is the BaZi month, which changes on a 節 (jie, solar term) date, not on the 1st. On a 節 date the previous day's officer repeats: November 6 and 7, 2026 are both 开, because 立冬 (Li Dong, start of winter) falls on November 7.

The English names and readings are SPYLL's translation, the same ones used in our daily almanac content. Only two of the twelve, 破 and 危, are warnings.

Example: opening a business on Thursday, October 1, 2026

This question came in the comments of a Threads @hokkhi.id post from September 26, 2026 (translated from Indonesian): "If I open a new business this Thursday, October 1, is that good?"

SPYLL's almanac engine reads Thursday, October 1, 2026 as day pillar 戊申 in the month 丁酉, Day Officer 闭 (Close), clashing with the Tiger. Its 忌 list includes 开市 (opening a business), 嫁娶 (a wedding), and 纳采 (a marriage proposal). For an opening, the almanac points to another day.

The nearest day after it with 开市 on the 宜 list was Sunday, October 4, 2026 (辛亥, officer 满), which clashes with the Snake. An owner born in a Snake year would keep looking for the next date.

The 宜 and 忌 lists in SPYLL's almanac engine come from the 通书 tables in lunar-typescript, the calendar library the SPYLL BaZi calculator also uses. The day pillar is computed by SPYLL's engine from the 60-day cycle, and the Day Officer from each year's 節 dates.

Almanac table, November 2 to 15, 2026

From each day's full list, I kept the activities readers ask about most: weddings, marriage proposals, opening a business, buying and selling, signing contracts, receiving money, haircuts, travel, moving, and moving into a new home. "Rest skip" means the almanac writes 馀事勿取: outside that day's 宜 list, other activities are best left alone.

Look at November 12: its officer is 平 (Level), whose general reading says to save the big moves, yet its 宜 list is one of the longest in these two weeks, from weddings to contract signings.

When your plans already fall on a day the almanac says to avoid

The almanac and BaZi both read patterns in time, and neither decides how your event turns out. It's the same reason BaZi reads patterns rather than telling fortunes. If the date is fixed, use the almanac's note to plan your prep.

Start by reading exactly what's avoided. The 忌 list names activities, not the whole day. Tuesday, October 20, 2026 avoids haircuts, buying and selling, and opening a business, yet weddings and travel are on its 宜 list. An event that isn't on the 忌 list isn't affected.

If the event has several parts, separate what can move. A contract signing, for example, can be moved to a day with 立券 on the 宜 list (in the table above: November 3, 4, 12, and 13), while the handover or the first day of work stays on the agreed date. The almanac can't judge what's in the contract. The clauses, price, and deadlines are still your call, and for a large contract, have a notary or lawyer read it.

Routine selling is different from opening a new business. One reader on Threads @hokkhi.id asked (translated): "But I sell every day, how do I avoid the clash? 🥲" The clash for your sign comes every 12 days, so two or three times a month, and closing your stall each time isn't realistic.

The almanac also separates 交易 (buying and selling) from 开市 (opening a business). Another question came from a reader selling at Jakarta's Sunday car-free-day market. Sundays November 1 and 8, 2026 both avoid 开市, but 交易 isn't on the 忌 list on either day. A stall that's already running can stay open, and the launch of a new stall or product can wait for a day with 开市 under 宜.

On a day that clashes with your sign, use it as a prep reminder:

• Double-check what most often trips that activity up: stock and change for a stall, documents and signatures for a contract, weather and transport for an outdoor event.
• Line up one person who can stand in if you can't make it.
• Start earlier than usual so a small surprise has room.

A wedding in February 2027, with Lunar New Year and a fast

This came in the comments of a Threads @hokkhi.id post from October 18, 2026 (translated): "I want to marry in February 2027, but Lunar New Year and the fast fall together." Lunar New Year 2027 falls on February 6, from the same tables as Li Chun vs Lunar New Year.

On fasting, the almanac has no say. Whatever fast you keep, when it starts and whether a wedding fits inside it are for your faith and your religious leaders to decide. A sensible order: your faith and family set the range of allowed dates first, then the almanac picks a day with 嫁娶 under 宜 inside that range, then you check the clash against both partners' signs.

FAQ

When is a good day for a haircut in the Chinese almanac?

The almanac has its own entry for haircuts, 理发. In the table above, November 11 and 14, 2026 list it under 宜, while Tuesday, October 20, 2026 lists it under 忌. If you already had a haircut on a 忌 day, there's nothing to undo, since the almanac is for choosing a day before the event.

What if I have to pay or collect a debt on an avoid day?

The almanac has 纳财 (receiving money), and the 收 (Harvest) officer reads as good for collecting payments, as on Thursday, November 5, 2026. Paying on time matters more than the day, though: delaying a payment for a date can mean late fees and lost trust. For decisions about debt and installments, talk to a financial adviser.

Can I choose my baby's birth date from the almanac?

The delivery date, including a planned C-section, is set by your obstetrician based on the health of mother and baby. The almanac has no place in a medical decision. If the doctor offers several dates that are equally safe, choosing among them is a family matter, and the final call still follows the doctor's advice.

Is a job application the same as a marriage proposal in the almanac?

No. In the almanac, 纳采 is the proposal stage of a wedding. There's no entry for applying to a job; the closest is 赴任 (taking up a new post), for your first day at work. The company usually sets the interview date, so your energy is better spent preparing your answers.

The clash column in the table is matched against the sign of your year pillar, while a full BaZi chart also has a day pillar, whose stem is your Day Master (see the 10 Day Masters directory). If the four pillars are new to you, the beginner's guide to BaZi starts from the basics. Before you lock in your next event date, enter your birth date and time in the SPYLL BaZi calculator, note the BaZi sign it shows, and mark the days that clash with it as the ones that need extra prep.