China's Lunar Calendar 2013 11-13

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT November 16.........................................................................................November 9 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) 
十
三
三期星

  Eleventh Month, Thirteenth Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, November 13

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天天合歲
醫喜日德

Generational Virtue
Linked Days
Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician

—————————————————

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

中中吉

酉己丑

中凶凶

戌午寅

吉吉吉

亥未卯

凶凶吉

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 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between
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

進新作詞
水船灶訟

Litigation
Stove Work
New Boats
Entering Water

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
一
癸
未
木
壁
成

Eleventh Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: guiwei (20/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Wall (15/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (9/12)

————————————————— 

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

宜 
醞動訂祭
釀土婚祀
安豎納祈
牀柱采福
納上裁入
畜樑衣學
安修修會
葬倉造友
星火
招厭水債
搖對痕不

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Erecting Pillars
Putting-up Beams
Repairing Granaries
Fermenting Beverages
Positioning Beds
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Fire Star

Miscellaneous Information  

Debt Not
Water Scar
Mutual Loathing
Swaggering Braggadocio

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

人
Person
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)

厠 牀 房

Toilet, Bed, House