China's Lunar Calendar 2013 11-21

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT November 24.........................................................................................November 17 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
一
四期星

  Eleventh Month, Twenty-first Day

Astral Period Four
Thursday, November 21

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

(top to bottom, right to left)

不陰三麒
將德合麟

Phoenix
Three Linkages
Yin Virtue
Not General

—————————————————

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

中中中

酉己丑

凶凶中

戌午寅
吉吉吉

亥未卯

凶中吉

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 In-Between
09:00-11:00 Inauspicious
11:00-13:00 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
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

開穿造合
池井酒醬

Mixing Sauces
Making Liquor
Boring Wells
Opening Ponds

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
九
辛
卯
木
井
定

Nineteenth Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengyin (28/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Well (22/28)

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

————————————————— 

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

宜
倉修采入
安造嫁學
牀動娶會
納土裁友
畜豎衣出
除柱移行
服上徙訂
安樑理婚
葬修髮納

元死四債
 武氣祥不不

Appropriate Activities
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Patterning Clothing
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Erecting Pillars
Putting-up Beams
Repairing Granaries
Positioning Beds
Livestock Payments
Discarding Clothing
Positioning Graves

Miscellaneous Information  

Debt Not
Four Fortune-Nots
Death Vapor
Primal General

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

白 人
White, Person
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)

門 灶 廚

Gate, Stove, Kitchen