China's Lunar Calendar 2014 02-04

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT February 12...........................................................................................February 4 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.

I apologize for today's imperfect scan of the day column. I will remedy this soon.

Section One
Solar Calendar Date
(top to bottom; right to left) 
四
日
二期星

 Second Month, Fourth Day

Astral Period Two
Tuesday, February 4

———————————————— 

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

月時
恩德

Timely Virtue
Lunar Kindness

—————————————————

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

凶凶凶

酉己丑
吉吉中

戌午寅

吉吉中

亥未卯

吉中中

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

07:00-09:00 Inauspicious
09:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
21:00-23:00 Auspicious

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

塔苫作修
厠蓋灶廚

Repairing Kitchens
Stove Work
Thatched Coverings
Building Outhouses

—————————————————  

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
五
丙
午
水
室
定

Fifth Day (First Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingwu (43/60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Pyre (12/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)*
*Occasionally a "personality" day will be repeated, as it is today).

————————————————— 

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

春立
零六卯
三時正
分       
宜

動移出祭
土徙行祀
安開嫁祈
葬市取福

凍解風東

月陽死白

忌將氣虎

Beginning of Spring
In the middle of the mao hour—6:03 a.m.
(The first of twenty-four fifteen-day solar periods on the calendar).

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Going out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Moving Households
Opening Markets
Moving Soil
Positioning Graves

East Wind Melts the Ice
(the first of seventy-two five-day micro-periods on the calendar)

Miscellaneous Information

 White Tiger
Death Vapor
Yang General
Lunar Taboo

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

丫 火
Bifurcation, Fire
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information 
(Top to bottom; right to left)
碓 灶 廚
Pestle, Stove, Kitchen