China's Lunar Calendar 2013 11-22

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
二
五期星

  Eleventh Month, Twenty-second Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, November 22

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

(top to bottom, right to left)

不陽解
將德神

Releasing Spirits
Yang Virtue
Not General

—————————————————

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

凶中中

酉己丑

吉凶吉

戌午寅
凶中吉

亥未卯

凶中吉

23:00-01:00 In-Between
01:00-03:00 Auspicious
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 In-Between
13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
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

除放開
服水渠

Opening Sluices
Putting-into Water
Discarding Clothing

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

二
十
壬
辰
水
鬼
執

Twentieth Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renchen (29/60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Ghost (23/28)

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

————————————————— 

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

雪小
四十午
十一初
八時    
 分        
宜
治裁訂
病衣婚
捕理嫁
捉髮娶

紅藏不見

重土火
喪符星

Small Snow
Beginning of the wu hour—11:48 AM
(The twentieth of twenty-four fifteen-day solar periods in the lunar calendar)

Appropriate Activities
Marriage Engagements
Marriage Alliances
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair
Treating Illness
Seizing and Capturing

Rainbows Hide
(The fifty-eighth of seventy-two five-day mini-periods in the lunar calendar)

Miscellaneous Information  

Fire Star
Earth Charm
Repeat Mourning

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

白 水
White, Water
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)

倉
栖 庫

Granary
Perch, Storehouse