China's Lunar Calendar 2013 03-14

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs" 

I'm on the road; this calendar will be updated on Thursday 3/14!

(A placeholder picture; to be updated soon)

This is one in a never-ending series—following the movements of the calendar—in Round and Square perpetuity. It is today's date in the Chinese lunar calendar, along with basic translation and minimal interpretation. Unless you have been studying lunar calendars (and Chinese culture) for many years, you will likely find yourself asking "what does that mean?" I would caution that "it" doesn't "mean" any one thing. There are clusters of meaning, and they require patience, reflection, careful reading, and, well, a little bit of ethnographic fieldwork. The best place to start is the introduction to "Calendars and Almanacs" on this blog. I teach a semester-long course on this topic and, trust me, it takes a little bit of time to get used to the lunar calendar. Some of the material is readily accessible; some of it is impenetrable, even after many years. 

As time goes on, I will link all of the sections to lengthy background essays. This will take a while. In the meantime, take a look, read the introduction, and think about all of the questions that emerge from even a quick look at the calendar.

(Color copy by Thursday) 

 

Section One
Solar Calendar Date

十

四

四期星

Third month, fourteenth day

Astral Period Four

(Thursday, March 14) 

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Section Two

Beneficent Stars

合月

日德

Lunar Virtue

Gathered Days

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Section Three
Auspicious Hours
申辰子

中中吉

酉己丑

凶吉凶

戌午寅

中吉吉

亥未卯

凶吉吉

23:00-01:00 Auspicious
01:00-03:00 Inauspicious
03:00-05:00 Auspicious
05:00-07:00 Auspicious

07:00-09:00 Auspicious
09:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00  Auspicious
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

The hours above are for Hong Kong. It is up to you if you want to recalibrate or to assume that the cyclicality of the calendar "covers" the rest of the world. This is a greater interpretive challenge than you might think.

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Section Four
Activities to Avoid 

忌
穿動

井土

Moving Soil

Boring Wells  

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 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 
初

三

己

卯

土
井

建

Third Day (second lunar month)

Cyclical day: jimao (16/60)

Phase (element): Earth

Constellation: Well (22/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Establish (1/12)

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Section Six
Appropriate Activities 
(and Miscellaneous Information)

宜

出

行

會

友

厭水

對痕

招土

揺府

Appropriate Activities

Going Out (and about)

Meeting Friends

 
Miscellaneous Information

Water Scar

Earth Palace

Facing Repression

Beckon and Sway 

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 Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
丫 神
White, Earth

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Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

占
門 大 

Divination

Gate, Large