China's Lunar Calendar 2014 02-24

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT February 28...........................................................................................February 21 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
四
一期星

 Second Month, Twenty-fourth Day

Astral Period One
Monday, February 24

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

月月歲
恩德祿

Generational Emolument
Lunar Virtue
Lunar Kindness

—————————————————

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

凶凶凶

酉己丑
吉中中

戌午寅

中吉中

亥未卯

中中吉

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

07:00-09:00 Inauspicious
09:00-11:00 In-Between
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 In-Between
21:00-23:00 In-Between

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
動祭作
土祀灶

Stove Work
Venerating Ancestors
Moving Soil

—————————————————  

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
五
丙
寅
火
心
建

Twenty-fifth Day (First Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingyin (3/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Heart (5/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Establish (1/12)

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

宜 
出立會
財約友
納交訂
畜易婚
啟上納
攢樑采
安開裁
葬倉衣
北雁候 
天土月
刑府建

Appropriate Activities

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing

Setting-up Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Putting-up Beams

Opening Granaries

Cash Outflow

Livestock Payments

Starting Savings

Positioning Graves

Wild Geese Fly North
(the fifth of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods in the agricultural calendar)

Miscellaneous Information

 Lunar Establishment
Earth Palace
Heavenly Punishment

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

丫 天
Bifurcation, Heaven
————

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

Kitchen
Furnace, Stove