China's Lunar Calendar 2013 10-06

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT October 8.............................October 5  Lunar Calendar Information 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) 
六
日
日期星

  Tenth Month, Sixth Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, October 6

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天天合月
醫喜日德

Lunar Virtue
Linked Days
Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician

—————————————————

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

吉中吉

酉己丑

吉凶吉

戌午寅

吉中中

亥未卯

凶中凶

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

成除遠栽
服靈行種

Planting and Cultivating
Long Journeys
Expelling Spirits
Completing Clothing

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
二
乙
巳
火
房
成

Second Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yisi (42/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: House (4/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (9/12)

————————————————— 

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

宜

安醫嫁祭
牀病娶祀
作修納祈
灶造采福
修動移入
倉土徙學
納上理會
畜樑髮友

不債
陰朱復重
將雀喪日

Appropriate Activities  

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Repairing Granaries
Livestock Payments

Debt Not

Miscellaneous Information  

Repeated Days
Return Mourning
Vermilion Bird
Yin General

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

白 山
White, Mountain
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)

牀 磨 碓

Bed, Mortar, Pestle