China's Lunar Calendar 2014 02-14

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT February 20...........................................................................................February 13 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
四
日
五期星

 Second Month, Fourteenth Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, February 14

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十月月
靈恩德

Lunar Virtue
Lunar Kindness
Ten Spirits

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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

凶中中

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 In-Between
13:00-15:00 In-Between

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

行作修
喪灶廚

Repairing Kitchens
Stove Work
Mourning Visits

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 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
五
丙
辰
土
鬼
滿

Fifteenth Day (First Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingchen (53/60)

Phase (element): Earth

Constellation: Ghost (23/28)

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

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

元上
宜
動納祭
土采祀
上移出
樑徙行
安開嫁
葬市娶

冰負陟魚

三厭龍
喪對口

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Going Out (and about)

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Moving Households

Opening Markets

Moving Soil

Putting-up Beams

Positioning Beams

Fish Swim Upstream, Breaking Ice

Miscellaneous Information

 Dragon Mouth
Mutual Repression
Three Mournings

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

丫 地
Bifurcation, Earth
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information 
(Top to bottom; right to left)
廚

栖 灶

Kitchen
Pestle Stove