China's Lunar Calendar 2014 01-31 New Year's Day

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT February 3...............January 31........................Monthly Calendar Information 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)
卅一年 一二
一月     四〇
五期星

2014
 First Month, Thirty-first Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, January 31

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十玉吉相時麒

靈宇期日德麟

Unicorn
Timely Virtue
 Facing Days
Auspicious Temporality
Jade Expanse
Ten Spirits

—————————————————

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

凶中中

酉己丑
中中吉

戌午寅

吉中吉

亥未卯

凶凶吉

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

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 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
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

出開祈祭放開
財倉福祀水渠

Opening Sluices

Putting-into Water

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Opening Granaries

Cash Outlays

—————————————————  

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
一
壬
寅
金
牛
除

First Day (First Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renyin (39/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Ox (9/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

—————————————————  

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

節春

不是貴出時貴

宜日神行天神

出未大宜乙正

行申吉用貴東

五亥或子人炷

鬼時向丑上香

東凶西辰吉宜

南寅方巳子丑

死卯北午寅時

門時方時辰天

正 截出向巳官

南路行東時貴

勿空亦方亦人

向亡吉迎吉卯 

Spring Festival 

This passage resists translation in several manners, notably in the "cultural" (not really "linguistic") difficulty of conveying meaning. I am still looking for ways (other than paraphrase) to make it make sense in English. Suffice to say (for now) that it begins with the directions in which nobility and wealth flow today (due east) before proceeding to appropriate times to burn incense and go out (appropriate for New Year's Day). This is standard "New Year" language (almost the same as last year, but with different directions). From there, it gets progressively more obscure, and the Chinese question-and-answer site (百度百科) is filled with questions about what phrases such as 截路空亡 mean. Suffice it to say that it's a very good—red character—day. If I am able to tease out some ways to convey these matters better in English, I will re-post.