China's Lunar Calendar 2013 12-20

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) 
二
十
五期星

  Twelfth Month, Twentieth Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, December 20

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天天六歲
醫喜合支

Generational Branch
Six Linakges
Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician

—————————————————

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

吉吉凶

酉己丑

中吉吉
戌午寅

凶凶凶

亥未卯

凶吉中

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

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

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

詞動安結
訟土牀綱
Binding Nets
Positioning Beds
Moving Soil
Litigation

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
八
庚
申
木
鬼
成

Eighteenth Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengshen (57/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Ghost (23/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————————————————— 

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

宜

安掃裁祈
門舍衣福
作豎納入
灶柱采學
納上移會
畜樑徙友
安醞理出
葬釀髮行
不債
陽土九九
將符焦坎

Appropriate Activities
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Cutting-out Clothing
Grain Payments
Moving Households
Patterning Hair
Sweeping Rooms
Erecting Pillars
Putting-up Beams
Fermenting Liquor
Positioning Doors
Stove Work
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Debt Not

Miscellaneous Information  

Nine Thresholds
Nine Charrings
Earth Charm
Yang General

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

白 地
White, Earth
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)

爐 磨 碓

Furnace, Mortar, Pestle