China's Lunar Calendar 2014 01-10

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT January 13................................................................................................January 6 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
日
五期星

 First Month, Tenth Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, January 10

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

(top to bottom, right to left)

天月三玉
恩恩合堂

Jade Hall
Three Linkages
Lunar Kindness
Heavenly Kindness

—————————————————

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

中中中

酉己丑

凶吉吉
戌午寅

吉吉吉

亥未卯

凶凶中

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

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

除遠造合
服行酒醬
Mixing Sauces

Making Liquor

Long Journeys

Discarding Clothing

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
十
辛
巳
金
婁
定

Tenth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: xinsi (18/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Mound (16/28)

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

————————————————— 

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

宜

修交納祭
倉易采祀
開修裁祈
庫造衣福
安動移會
牀土徙友
納上立訂
畜樑約婚
巢始鵲
下蛇火重
兀口星日

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Making Appointments
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Putting-up Beams
Repairing Granaries
Opening Storehouses
Positioning Beds
Livestock Payments

Magpies Nest
(the sixty-eighth of seventy-two five-day micro-periods on the solar calendar)

Miscellaneous Information  

Doubled Days
Fire Star
Snake Mouth
Lower Amputee

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

人 林
Person, Copse
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)

牀 灶 廚

Bed, Stove, Kitchen