China's Lunar Calendar 2013 11-02

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.

Add caption

Section One
Solar Calendar Date
(top to bottom; right to left) 
二
日
六期星

  Eleventh Month, Second Day

Astral Period Six
Saturday, November 2

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

(top to bottom, right to left)

生四六歲
氣相合支

Generational Branch
Six Linkages
Four Facings
Engendered Vapor

—————————————————

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

凶凶吉

酉己丑

吉吉吉

戌午寅

中中凶

亥未卯

凶吉吉

23:00-01:00 Auspicious
01:00-03:00 Auspicious
03:00-05:00 Inauspicious
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 Auspicious
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

伐安放開
木牀水渠

Opening Sluices

Putting-into Water

Positioning Beds

Felling Trees

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
九
壬
申
金
氐

開

Twenty-ninth Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renshen (9/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Foundation (3/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————————————————— 

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

宜
上開裁祭
樑市衣祀
置納理祈
產財髮福
成修移入
服造徙學
除動醫出
服土病行
俯咸蟲鷙
上火無吾
兀星祿離

Appropriate Activities  

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Going Out (and about)
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair
Moving Residences
Doctor Visits
Opening Markets
Capital Outflow
Repairs and Building
Moving Soil
Erecting Beams
Setting-up Industry
Completing Clothing
Discarding Clothing

Insects Tuck Themselves Away
(the fifty-fourth of seventy-two five-day micro-periods on the solar calendar)

Miscellaneous Information  

Five Separations

Without Emolument

Fire Star

Upper Amputee

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

白 
White
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)

爐 庫 倉
Furnace, Storehouse, Granary