Month in Chinese / Japanese...

This is April in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

This was originally the fourth month of the Chinese lunar year, now used for the fourth month of the Gregorian calendar (also known as the Western or Christian calendar). 四月 literally mean “fourth month” or “fourth moon.”

八月 is the month of August in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

八月 literally means “eighth month” or “eighth moon.”

In Japanese, this can also be the female given name, Yatsuki, in much the same way August can be a female given name in English.

奧古斯特 is a common transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the name August.

This sounds like “August” but has nothing to do with the month of August in Chinese.

破鏡重圓 is about a husband and wife who were separated and reunited.

About 1500 years ago in China, there lived a beautiful princess named Le Chang. She and her husband Xu De Yan loved each other very much. But when the army of the Sui Dynasty was about to attack their kingdom, disposed of all of their worldly possessions and prepared to flee into exile.

They knew that in the chaos, they might lose track of each other, so the one possession they kept was a bronze mirror which is a symbol of unity for a husband and wife. They broke the mirror into two pieces, and each of them kept half of the mirror. They decided that if separated, they would try to meet at the fair during the 15th day of the first lunar month (which is the lantern festival). Unfortunately, the occupation was brutal, and the princess was forced to become the mistress of the new commissioner of the territory, Yang Su.

At the Lantern Festival the next year, the husband came to the fair to search for his wife. He carried with him his half of the mirror. As he walked through the fair, he saw the other half of the mirror for sale at a junk market by a servant of the commissioner. The husband recognized his wife's half of the mirror immediately, and tears rolled down his face as he was told by the servant about the bitter and loveless life that the princess had endured.

As his tears dripped onto the mirror, the husband scratched a poem into his wife's half of the mirror:

You left me with the severed mirror,
The mirror has returned, but absent are you,
As I gaze in the mirror, I seek your face,
I see the moon, but as for you, I see not a trace.

The servant brought the inscribed half of the mirror back to the princess. For many days, the princess could not stop crying when she found that her husband was alive and still loved her.

Commissioner Yang Su, becoming aware of this saga, realized that he could never obtain the princess's love. He sent for the husband and allowed them to reunite.

This proverb, 破鏡重圓, is now used to describe a couple who has been torn apart for some reason (usually divorce) but have come back together (or remarried).
It seems to be more common these days in America for divorced couples to reconcile and get married to each other again. This will be a great gift if you know someone who is about to remarry their ex.

丑 can refer to the astrological time of the ox, or a Chinese surname, Chou.

丑 represents the 2nd earthly branch. In daily time, 1:00-3:00 AM, or the 12th/last month in the Chinese calendar.

In an ancient year-naming scheme, this can represent the year of the Ox (one of twelve animals paired with one of five element characters yielding a 60-year cycle).

This is how to write “day” in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Hanja.

This can also mean “Sun,” the star in the middle of the Solar system in which we live. In Japanese, it can also mean “sunshine” or even “Sunday.”

When writing the date in modern Chinese and Japanese, putting a number in front of this character indicates the day of the month. Of course, you need to indicate the month too... The month is expressed with a number followed by the character for the moon. So “three moons ten suns” would be “March 10th” or “3/10.”

Note: This is also the first character for the proper name of Japan. Remember that Japan is “The land of the rising sun”? Well, the first character for Japan means “sun” and the second means “origin” so you get the real meaning now. Sometimes, in China, this sun character can be a short name for Japan or a suffix for something of or from Japan.

十二月 is December, the twelfth month of the year, in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

二月 is the Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja for the month of February.

This literally means the “second month” or “second moon” (of the year).

一月 is the month of January, the first month of the year, in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

七月 is how Chinese and Japanese express July (also used in old Korean Hanja).

七月 literally means “seventh month” or “seventh moon.”

君 is a common transliteration to Mandarin Chinese for the name June.

This sounds like “June” in Chinese but does not mean the month of June at all.

This is a common Mandarin Chinese transliteration for the female name June.

However, you might want the meaning of month June (the 6th moon of the year) instead of this.

This is the month of June in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

This was originally the sixth month of the Chinese lunar year, now used for the sixth month of the Gregorian calendar (also known as the Western or Christian calendar). 六月 literally mean “sixth month” or “sixth moon.”

三月 is the Chinese, Japanese, and Chinese way to write the month of March.

This literally reads as “third month” or “third moon.”

五月 is the month of May in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.

This was originally the fifth month of the Chinese lunar year, now used for the fifth month of the Gregorian calendar (also known as the Western or Christian calendar). 五月 literally means “fifth month” or “fifth moon.”

Note: Sometimes Japanese parents will use this as a female given name, and use "Mei" (the sound of May in English) as the pronunciation.

月 is how to write the title for “moon” in Chinese, Korean Hanja, and Japanese Kanji.

月 is also used to refer to the month. This is because China traditionally uses a lunar calendar, so saying “next moon” is the same as saying “next month” etc.
In modern Chinese and Japanese and old Korean, the character for a number is put in front of this moon character to represent western months. So “one moon” is January “two moons” is February etc.

If you are wondering, in the east Asian way to write dates, the character for “sun” or “day” is used with a number in front of it to express the day of the month. So “ten moons, one sun” becomes “October 1st” or “10/1” (this date happens to be Chinese National Day - The equivalent of Independence Day in the USA, Canada Day, or the Queen's Birthday).

In Japanese, 月 can be a surname that romanizes as Tsuki, Tsukizaki, or Takagetsu.

十一月 is the Chinese, Japanese, and old Korean title for the month of November.

This literally means the eleventh month or moon.

十月 is how Chinese and Japanese express October (also used in old Korean Hanja).

十月 literally means “tenth month” or “tenth moon.”

This is the Japanese name Samidare.

The meaning of the name is “early-summer rain.” Literally, it's “5th moon rain,” which means “rain in the month of May.” This may refer to an anime character, a Japanese battleship in WWII, or a place in Japan called Samidare.

九月 is the Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja for the month of September.

Originally this was for the ninth month of the lunar calendar, now used for the western (Gregorian) calendar.

This can also be the Japanese female given name Kugetsu.

日 is the word for sun.

It also means day and can refer to the day of the month when expressing the date.
Example: October 1st would be “10 Moons, 1 Sun.”

日 is also the first Kanji for the title of Japan (in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and Korean Hanja). Thus, this character is used as an adjective for things that are Japanese.
Ever heard of Japan being called, “The land of the rising sun”? Well, that's what the full title of Japan means.

Depending on the context, this character can mean Sunshine or Sunlight.

Note: In Japanese, this Kanji has a variety of possible pronunciations. The pronunciation changed depending on context and how this Kanji is combined with other Kanji. When used alone, this is usually "hi" (pronounced like "hee") but sometimes it’s "nichi." When combined, it can be "tsu," "ni," "ka," and a few others.