China's Lunar Calendar 2014 01-20

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT January 22................................................................................................January 14 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
一期星

 First Month, Twentieth Day

Astral Period One
Monday, January 20

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

(top to bottom, right to left)

不月金
將恩堂

Golden Hall
Lunar Kindness
Not General

—————————————————

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

中中中

酉己丑
凶吉中

戌午寅

吉吉吉

亥未卯

凶凶吉

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

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

穿造合
井酒醬
Mixing Sauces

Making Liquor

Boring Wells

—————————————————  

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

二
十
辛
卯
木
張
滿

Twentieth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: xinmao (28/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Drawn Bow (26/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)

—————————————————  

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

寒大
十一午
一時初
分五十
————————————
宜

開嫁祭
市娶祀
安理出
葬髮行
乳鷄
上天灾
兀狗煞
Great Cold
Begins at the wu hour: 11:51 a.m.
(the last of twenty-four fifteen-day mini-periods in the solar calendar)

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Patterning Hair
Opening Markets
Positioning Graves

Pheasant Hens Brood

Miscellaneous Information

 Baleful Disaster
Heavenly Dog
Upper Amputee

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

白
White
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)

廚

門 灶

Kitchen
Door, Stove