China's Lunar Calendar 2013 10-22

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) 
廿
二
二期星

  Tenth Month, Twenty-second Day

Astral Period Two
Tuesday, October 22

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

官德天
日合月

Heavenly Lunarity
Virtuous Linkages
Official Days

—————————————————

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

中凶中

酉己丑

凶吉中

戌午寅

中中吉

亥未卯

凶中凶

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
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

田造合
獵酒醬

Mixing Sauces
Making Liquor
Field Venery

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
八
辛
酉
木
觜

閉

Eighteenth Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: xinyou (58/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Beak of the Turtle (20/28)

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

————————————————— 

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

宜
補理祭
塞髮祀
牧掃祈
養舍福
除安出
服牀行
安作栽
葬灶衣
不債
五月血
離害支

Appropriate Activities  

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Going Out (and about)
Planting and Cultivating
Patterning Hair
Sweeping Rooms
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Patching and Plugging
Raising Livestock
Discarding Clothing
Positioning Beds

Debt Not

Miscellaneous Information  

Blood Branch
Lunar Harm
Five Separations

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

白
White
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)
廚
門 灶

Kitchen
Gate, Stove