China's Lunar Calendar 2013 05-07

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)  
七
日

二期星

Fifth month, seventh day

Astral Period Two

Tuesday, May 7

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Section Two

Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)

時三合歲
陰合日德

Generational Virtue
Linkage of Days
Three Togethers
Timely Yin 

—————————————————

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

吉吉吉

酉己丑

中吉吉

戌午寅

中中吉

亥未卯

凶凶凶

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

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

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

————————————————— 

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

忌

置時栽詞
產插種訟

Litigation
Planting Crops
Timely Injections
Setting-up Industry

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
八

癸
酉

金
觜

定

Twenty-eighth Day (third lunar month)

Cyclical day: guiyou (10/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Beak of the Turtle (20/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————————————————— 

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

宜
上開納祭
樑市采祀
安交嫁入
牀易娶學
納修移出
畜造徙行
安動理訂
葬土髮婚 

將陰
朱死五大
   雀氣離亡空*
 
Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Entering Study
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Erecting Beams
Positioning Beds
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves       

Yin General

Miscellaneous Information

Great Vacant-loss
Five Separations
Death Vapor
Vermilion Bird

 ————————————————— 

 Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(right to left)
丫 林
Bifurcation, Thicket

————————————————— 

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities

(Top to bottom; right to left) 

門 牀 房

Gate, Bed, House