Hong Kong almanac publishing

Tongshu and Tongsheng

Tongsheng (通胜), often written Tong Shing in Hong Kong English, is a familiar name for a Chinese almanac. The name reflects Cantonese wordplay: the words for “book,” 书, and “lose,” 输, sound alike. Replacing “book” with “win,” 胜, gives Tongshu (通书) a more auspicious name. This regional naming convention does not identify a separate calendar system.

A bound Tongsheng can contain much more than an annual calendar. Alongside lunar dates, solar terms and date-selection entries, editions have included the Thousand Character Classic, illustrated stories of filial piety, calligraphy, English-language aids and divination material. The book combines a calendar for the year with a wider household reference collection.

Its parts have different uses. The dated pages support the timing of events and the reading of daily classifications. The supplementary sections can be consulted independently of a particular day. That combination explains both the thickness of some volumes and the mixture of calendrical, ritual, literary and practical material between their covers.

Compilers and publishers

A family tradition of compilation

One influential line of compilation is associated with Zhenbutang. Cai Zuibai established the family tradition and compiled the Qizheng Jingwei Lishu, an annual calendrical work whose series began in 1891. The work passed through his son Cai Lianfang to his grandson Cai Boli, known in Hong Kong English as Choi Park-lai.

Cai Boli’s name became closely associated with Hong Kong Tongsheng publishing. The fourth generation included his daughter Cai Xinghua. The family’s work combined calendrical calculation, the preparation of traditional activity entries and the arrangement of material for publication.

Compilation and production were closely connected in this family business. Preparing an almanac involved working out entries as well as assembling the text and illustrations into a printable layout. A page had to bring many kinds of information into a form that could be scanned by date.

Compilation and publication

A compiler’s name does not identify every part of a published almanac. Zhenbutang supplied calendar material for fuller books issued under names such as Guangjingtang and Yongjingtang. Publishers added supplementary contents around that material.

The work of making the book can be divided into three roles, even when one business carries out more than one of them.

Two editions can therefore share a compiler while differing in reference sections, typography, illustrations or binding. Conversely, a familiar cover title can continue through changes in production. The compiler, publisher and edition year together identify the book more precisely than its cover name alone.

The year for which an almanac is prepared is also distinct from the year in which it is printed. An edition intended for the coming year may appear in advance, so both dates can legitimately occur in its publication information.

Changing formats

Combining books and redesigning the daily entry

From its 2016 edition, Zhenbutang combined the Qizheng Jingwei Lishu with the Minsu Tongsheng, or folk almanac, under the title Zhenbutang Tianwen Lisuan Tongsheng. The combined book retained the calendrical reference material and reorganized the daily entries.

Its presentation distinguished three grades of favourable dates: shangji, the highest favourable grade; zhongji, the middle grade; and pingji, the ordinary favourable grade. These summarized the compilation’s assessment so that readers did not have to combine every individual classification themselves. The three-grade scale belongs to this publishing tradition’s presentation, rather than to all Chinese almanacs.

Space also shapes the daily page. Cai Boli selected major activities such as building, marriage, opening a business and burial rather than printing every possible undertaking. A general grade and a shortened activity list perform different editorial tasks: one summarizes an assessment, while the other names the actions selected for inclusion. The book’s own instructions explain how those summaries and omissions should be read.

Zhenbutang also experimented with shorter formats, including desk calendars, diaries and annual calendar cards. Such formats reduce the room available for supplementary material and change how much explanation can sit beside a date.

Explanations for readers

An almanac’s explanatory pages are part of its design. They connect abbreviated daily labels with a fuller account of activity names, grades and the use of hours or directions. Moving an explanation to an introductory section can leave the daily pages compact while making the edition easier to use.

Changes to those explanations can matter as much as changes to the cover. A combined volume, a shorter format or a redesigned daily column changes how readers find and interpret an entry. Hong Kong’s Tongsheng publishing tradition includes this continuing work of arranging and explaining inherited material, alongside the annual preparation of the calendar itself.