China's Lunar Calendar 2013 11-24

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
四
日期星

  Eleventh Month, Twenty-fourth Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, November 24

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

(top to bottom, right to left)

進普四月
神護相德

Lunar Virtue
Four Facings
Universal Protection
Entering Spirits

—————————————————

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

中中凶

酉己丑
吉凶吉
戌午寅
中凶吉

亥未卯

凶吉中

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

07:00-09:00 In-Between
09:00-11:00 Inauspicious
11:00-13:00 Inauspicious
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between
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

塔苫出開
厠蓋財倉

Opening Granaries
Capital Outflow
Thatching Roofs
Building Outhouses

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
二
甲
午
金
星
危

Twenty-second Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiawu (31/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Asterism (25/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————————————————— 

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

宜
上安出祭

樑牀行祀

作開嫁祈

灶市娶福

納修納求

畜造采嗣

安動移會

葬土徙友

虛五

陰致天密

將死吏日

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Seeking Inheritance
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Positioning Beds
Opening Markets
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Stove Work
Livestock Payments
Positioning Beds

Five Voids

Miscellaneous Information  

Mysterious Days
Heavenly Official
Conveying Death
Yin General

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

人
Person
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)

碓 門 占

Pestle, Gate, Divination