China's Lunar Calendar 2013 09-04

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT September 4.......................................................................................................August 28 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) 
四
日
三期星

  Ninth Month, Fourth Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, September 4

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Section Two

Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)

陰天合歲
德德日德

Generational Virtue
Linked Days
Heavenly Virtue
Yin Virtue

—————————————————

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

中中凶

亥未卯

凶凶凶

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

塞補栽詞
穴垣種訟

Litigation
Planting Crops
Patching Embankments
Plugging-up Caves

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
九
癸
酉
金
軫
除

Twenty-ninth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: guiyou (10/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Running Board (28/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (12/12)

————————————————— 

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

宜

貨動裁祭

 財土衣祀

納上理祈

畜樑髮福

成修掃訂

服開舍婚

安倉修納

葬出造采

忌楊

元往咸五
武亡池離

Appropriate Activities  

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair
Sweeping Rooms
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Erecting Beams
Repairing*
Opening Granaries
Commodities*
Capital Outflow
Livestock Payments
Completing Clothing
Positioning Beds
*This section seems to be a little disordered. I have marked the material that seems to be out of place.

Poplar Taboo

Miscellaneous Information

Five Separations

Widespread Pool

Towards Loss

Beginning Martial

————  

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

白 人
White, Person

—————————————————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

(Top to bottom; right to left)
門 牀 房

Gate, Bed, House