China's Lunar Calendar 2013 09-26

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT October 4........................................................................................September 26 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) 
廿
六
四期星

  Ninth Month, Twenty-sixth Day

Astral Period Four
Thursday, September 26

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

生合月
氣日德

Lunar Virtue
Linked Days
Engendered Vapor

—————————————————

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

吉中吉

酉己丑

中凶凶

戌午寅

吉中吉

亥未卯

凶中凶

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

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

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

動時栽
土插種

Planting and Cultivating
Timely Injections
Moving Soil

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
二
乙
未
金
井
開

Twenty-second Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yiwei (32/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Well (22/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————————————————— 

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

宜
開出祭

市行祀

上嫁祈

樑娶福

牧納入

養采學

納移會

畜徙友

符土

九復五

空喪虛
Appropriate Activities  

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Erecting Beams
Raising Domestic-animals
Livestock Payments

Miscellaneous Information  

Five Vacancies
Repeat Mourning
Nine Voids

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

人 人
Person, Person (everyone!)
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)
碓

厠 磨

Pestle
Toilet, Mortar
————