China's Lunar Calendar 2013 10-16

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT October 17..................................................................................................October 9 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) 
十
六
三期星

  Tenth Month, Sixteenth Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, October 16

———————————————— 
Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

五聖六
合心合

Six Linkages
Sagely Heart
Five Linkages

—————————————————

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

吉凶吉

酉己丑

凶凶中

戌午寅

吉中吉

亥未卯

凶吉吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
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

开穿栽
池井种

Planting and Cultivating*
Boring Wells
Opening Ponds*
*Note that (in a relatively rare occurrence) two of the characters are in simplified form.

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
二
乙
卯
水
壁

執

Twelfth Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yimao (52/60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Wall (14/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)

————————————————— 

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

宜

結安祭
綱門祀
針捕祈
灸捉福
成田冠
服獵帶
安建安
葬屋牀
池咸
小五水
耗虛痕

Appropriate Activities  

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Caps and Belts
Positioning Beds
Positioning Doors
Seizing and Capturing
Field Venery
Setting-up Rooms
Binding Nets
Acupuncture and Moxibustion
Completing Clothing
Positioning Beds

Widespread Pond

Miscellaneous Information  

Four Abandonments
Death Vapor
Lunar Repression
Upper Amputee

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

白 山
White, Fire
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)
門

磨 碓

Divination
Furnace, Gate