China's Lunar Calendar 2013 10-23

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
三
三期星

  Tenth Month, Twenty-third Day

Astral Period Third
Wednesday, October 23

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

(top to bottom, right to left)

月德歲
空日支

Generational Branch
Virtuous Days
Lunar Vacancy

—————————————————

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

凶凶中

酉己丑

中吉中

戌午寅

吉中吉

亥未卯

凶吉吉

23:00-01:00 In-Between
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 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 In-Between
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
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

動放開
土水渠

Opening Sluices
Putting-into Water
Moving Soil

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
九
壬
戌
水
參

建

Ninetenth Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renxu (59/60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Mix (21/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Establish (1/12)

————————————————— 

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

降霜 
十十未
分四正
時
宜
上訂祭
樑婚祀
開移出
倉徙行
獸祭乃豺
犬三土
口喪府

Frost Descends
At the wei hour; 14:10 o'clock.
(the eighteenth of twenty-four, fifteen-day, periods on the solar calendar)

Appropriate Activities  

Venerating Ancestors
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Moving Residences
Erecting Beams
Opening Granaries

Wolf Sacrifices Beasts
(the fifty-second of seventy-two, five-day, micro-periods in the solar calendar)

Miscellaneous Information  
Soil Hall
Three Mournings
Canine Mouth

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

白 天
White, Heaven
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)
倉
栖 庫

Granary
Perch, Storehouse