China's Lunar Calendar 2014 01-23

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT January 30................................................................................................January 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
三
四期星

 First Month, Twenty-third Day

Astral Period Four
Thursday, January 23

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

(top to bottom, right to left)

進解四
神神相

Four Facings
Unleashing Spirits
Entering Spirits

—————————————————

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

中中凶

酉己丑
吉中吉

戌午寅

中凶吉

亥未卯

凶凶中

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

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

苫出開
蓋財倉
Opening Granaries

Capital Outflow

Thatched Coverings

—————————————————  

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
三
甲
午
金
角
執

Twenty-third Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiawu (31/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Horn (1/28)

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

—————————————————  

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

宜

伐理祭
木髮祀
捕掃祈
捉舍福
成裁出
服衣行
安動沐
葬土浴
痕水
咸五月
池虛忌
Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Going Out (and about)
Bathing and Bubbling
Patterning Hair
Sweeping Floors
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Soil
Felling Timber
Seizing and Apprehending
Completing Clothing
Positioning Graves

Water Scar

Miscellaneous Information

 Lunar Taboo
Five Vacancies
Widespread Pond

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

人 地
Person, Earth
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)

占

碓 門

Divination
Pestle, Gate