China's Lunar Calendar 2014 02-25

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
五
二期星

 Second Month, Twenty-fifth Day

Astral Period Two
Tuesday, February 25

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不吉官天麒
將期日德麟

Unicorn
Heavenly Virtue
Official Days
Auspicious Temporal-slice
Not General

—————————————————

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

凶中凶

酉己丑
凶中中

戌午寅

中吉吉

亥未卯

吉吉凶

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
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
進新開穿理
水船池井髮

Patterning Hair
Boring Wells
Opening Ponds
New Boats
Entering Water

—————————————————  

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
六
丁
卯
火
尾
初

Twenty-sixth Day (First Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dingmao (4/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Tail (6/28)

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

————————————————— 

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

宜 
安修裁出祭
牀造衣行祀
栽動移訂祈
種土徙婚福
納上醫納求
畜樑病采嗣
安開掃嫁會
葬倉舍娶友
池咸
朱大大水債
雀敗時痕不

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Seeking Position
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Physician Visits
Sweeping Rooms
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Erecting Beams
Opening Granaries
Positioning Beds
Planting and Cultivating
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Widespread Pond

Miscellaneous Information

 Debt Not
Water Scar
Great Temporality
Great Defeat
Vermilion Bird

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

丫 林
Bifurcation, Copse
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information 
(Top to bottom; right to left)
庫 倉 門

Storehouse, Granary, Gate