China's Lunar Calendar 2013 11-09

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT November 8.............................................November 3.....Monthly Calendar Information 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) 
九
日
六期星

  Eleventh Month, Ninth Day

Astral Period Six
Saturday, November 9

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

(top to bottom, right to left)

進民合月
神日日德

Lunar Virtue
Linked Days
Peopled Days
Entering Spirits

—————————————————

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

中中吉

酉己丑

凶凶凶

戌午寅

中吉吉

亥未卯

凶吉吉

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

07:00-09:00 In-Between
09:00-11:00 Inauspicious
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

進新開穿
水船池井

Boring Wells
Opening Ponds
New Boats
Going-into Water

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
七
己
卯
土
女
定

Seventh Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jimao (16/60)

Phase (element): Earth

Constellation: Woman (10/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————————————————— 

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

宜
土理行祭
上髮嫁祀
樑開娶祈
修市納福
倉交采入
成易裁學
服修衣會
安造移友
葬動徙出

元死四水

武氣祥不痕

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Repairing Granaries
Completing Clothing
Positioning Graves

Miscellaneous Information  

Water Scar
Four Fortune-nots
Death Vapor
Primal Martiality

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

白 人
White, Person
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)

門 大 占

Gate, Big, Divination