China's Lunar Calendar 2013 12-06

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT December 6..............................December 3.......................Monthly 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) 
六
日
五期星

  Twelfth Month, Sixth Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, December 6

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

(top to bottom, right to left)

普青麒
護龍麟

Unicorn
Blue-green Dragon
Universal Protection

—————————————————

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

吉凶凶

酉己丑

吉凶中
戌午寅

吉吉中

亥未卯

凶中中

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
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

苫作修
蓋灶廚
Kitchen Repairs
Stove Work
Thatched Coverings

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
四
丙
午
水
牛
危

Fourth Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingwu (43/60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Oxen (9/28)

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

————————————————— 

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

宜

栽修祭
種造祀
伐動祈
木土福
田起冠
獵工帶
啟架掃
攢馬舍
將陰
復五四
喪虛廢

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Capping and Belting

Sweeping Rooms

Repairing and Building

Moving Soil

Starting Labor

Sheltering Horses

Planting and Cultivating

Felling Timber

Field Venery

Initiating Savings

Yin General

Miscellaneous Information  

Four Abandonments
Five Vacancies
Return Mourning

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

丫
Bifurcation
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)

廚
碓 灶

Kitchen
Pestle, Stove