China's Lunar Calendar 2013 12-16

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT December 22............................................................................................December 15 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
六
一期星

  Twelfth Month, Sixteenth Day

Astral Period One
Monday, December 16

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十月時三
靈空陰合

Three Linkages
Temporal Yin
Lunar Vacancy
Ten Spirits

—————————————————

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

吉凶中

酉己丑

吉吉中
戌午寅

凶凶中

亥未卯

凶中中

23:00-01:00 In-Between
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 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 Inauspicious
13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
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

時栽作修
插種灶廚 
Kitchen Repairs

Stove Work

Planting and Cultivating

Timely Injections

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
四
丙
辰
土
畢
定

Fourteenth Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingchen (53/60)

Phase (element): Earth

Constellation: Net (19/28)

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

————————————————— 

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

宜
樑立婚祭
安約納祀
牀交采祈
修易嫁福
倉修娶會
成造裁友
服動衣出
安土移行
葬上徙訂

破天死月
敗牢氣忌

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Setting-up Appointments
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Positioning Beds
Completing Clothing
Positioning Graves

Miscellaneous Information  

Lunar Taboo
Death Vapor
Heavenly Prison
Destructive Defeat

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

丫
Bifurcation
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)

栖 灶 廚

Perch, Stove, Kitchen