China's Lunar Calendar 2013 05-03

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT May 9.....................................................................................May 2 RIGHT

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.

Section One
Solar Calendar Date
(top to bottom; right to left)  
三
日

五期星

Fifth month, third day

Astral Period Five

Friday, May 3

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Section Two

Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)

陰五明相
德富堂日

Facing Days
Luminous Hall
Five Abundances
Yin Virtue 

—————————————————

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子

吉中吉

酉己丑

中中凶

戌午寅

凶吉吉

亥未卯

凶吉中

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
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.

————————————————— 

Section Four
Activities to Avoid 
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

忌

行成除遠
喪服靈行

Long Journeys
Expelling Spirits
Putting-together Clothing
Mourning Visits 

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
四

己

巳
木

婁

除

Twenty-fourth Day (third lunar month)

Cyclical day: jisi (6/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Mound (16/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————————————————— 

Section Six
Appropriate Activities 
(and Miscellaneous Information)
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

宜
作動入會
灶土宅友
補上開裁
塞樑市衣
開安交掃
渠牀易舍
栽安修出
種門造火
虛五
重劫重小
   喪煞日亡空*

Appropriate Activities
Meeting Friends
Patterning Clothing
Sweeping Floors
Starting Fires
Entering Residences (staying home)
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repair and Construction
Moving Soil
Erecting Beams
Positioning Beds
Positioning Doors
Stove Work
Sealing-up Caves
Opening Sluices
Planting Crops    

Five Voids

Miscellaneous Information

Small Vacancy-loss*
Repeated Days
Baleful Plunder
Repeated Mourning  
*There is not a place in the font package for this obscure calendrical-use character. The right side conveys 
"loss" and the right side conveys "vacancy/emptiness." All in all: not good.

 ————————————————— 

 Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(right to left)
白 人
White, Person

————————————————— 

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities

(Top to bottom; right to left) 

牀 門 占

Bed, Gate, DIvination