China's Lunar Calendar 2013 12-29

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT December 31............................................................................................December 23 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
九
日期星

  Twelfth Month, Twenty-ninth Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, December 29

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

(top to bottom, right to left)

五益
富后

After Increase
Five Wealths

—————————————————

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

吉中吉

酉己丑

中中凶
戌午寅

中凶吉

亥未卯

凶吉中

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

07:00-09:00 In-Between
09:00-11:00 In-Between
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 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

除遠
服行
Long Journeys
Discarding Clothing

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
七
己
巳
木
房
執

Twenty-seventh Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jisi (6/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: House (4/28)

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

————————————————— 

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

宜

動祭
土祀
上置
樑產
安捕
門捉
作田
灶獵
重
日
劫小
煞耗

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Setting-up Production
Capturing and Seizing
Field Venery
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Positioning Doors
Stove Work

Doubled Days

Miscellaneous Information  

Small Squander
Baleful Plunder

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

丫
Bifurcation
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)

占
牀 門

Divination
Bed, Gate