China's Lunar Calendar 2013 10-28

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT November 2..................................................................................................October 26 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
八
一期星

  Tenth Month, Twenty-eighth Day

Astral Period One
Monday, October 28

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天五聖六
恩合心合

Six Linkages
Sagely Heart
Five Linkages
Heavenly Kindness

—————————————————

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

中凶中

酉己丑

凶中中

戌午寅

中吉吉

亥未卯

凶吉凶

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

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

開穿整理
池井甲髮

Patterning Hair
Trimming Nails
Boring Wells
Opening Ponds

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
四
丁
卯
火
張

執

Twenty-fourth Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dingmao (4/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Drawn Bow (26/28)

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

————————————————— 

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

宜 
醞竪訂祭
釀柱婚祀
納上嫁祈
畜樑娶福
成安修會
服牀造友
安捕動出
葬捉土行
落黃木草
陰咸小五
將池耗虛

Appropriate Activities  

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Marriage Alliances
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Erecting Pillars
Putting-up Beams
Positioning Beds
Seizing and Capturing
Fermenting Liquor
Livestock Payments
Completing Clothing
Positioning Graves

Leaves Turn Yellow and Fall
(the fifty-third of seventy-two five-day micro-periods on the solar calendar)

Miscellaneous Information  

Five Vacancies
Small Squander
Widespread Pond
Yin General

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

白 山
White, Mountain
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)

門 庫 倉
Gate, Storehouse, Granary