China's Lunar Calendar 2013 10-20

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT October 25..................................................................................................October 18 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) 
二
十
日期星

  Tenth Month, Twentieth Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, October 20

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

(top to bottom, right to left)

母鳳
倉凰

Phoenix
Maternal Granary

—————————————————

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

吉凶中

酉己丑

中吉凶

戌午寅

中吉吉

亥未卯

凶吉吉

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

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

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

成除
服靈

Expelling Spirits
Completing Clothing

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
六
己
未
火
昂

收

Sixteenth Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiwei (56/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Pleiades (18/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Receive (10/12)

————————————————— 

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

土
王
用
事
宜
捕
捉
田
獵

 朱密
雀日
重月
喪刑

Earth King Use-Matters
(a subsection of the calendar that divides the "360" cycle into five, seventy-two day periods)

Appropriate Activities  

Seizing and Capturing
Field Venery

Miscellaneous Information  

Secret Days
Lunar Punishment
Vermilion Bird
Doubled Days

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

丫 州
Bifurcation, Landmass
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)
占
厠 門

Divination
Toilet, Gate