China's Lunar Calendar 2014 03-12

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT March 14.........................................................................................................March 6 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

二
三期星

Third Month, Twelfth Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, March 12

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

民時
日德

Timely Virtue
Days of our Multitudes

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

凶中凶

酉己丑
凶吉吉
戌午寅
中中吉

亥未卯

吉吉吉

23:00-01:00 Inauspicious
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 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 In-Between
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.

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Section Four 
Activities to Avoid  
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

忌
苫開
蓋渠

Opening Sluices
Thatched Coverings

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 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
二
壬
午
木
參

平

Twelfth Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renwu (19/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Gathering (21/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Even (4/12)
*A cyclical character in this jianchu pattern occasionally repeats, as it does today.

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

宜
平

治

塗

修

飾

垣

墻
死火
神星
俱河
將魁

Appropriate Activities

Leveling and Painting Roadways
Repairing and Adorning Embankments and Walls

Miscellaneous Information

 Fire Star
River Stalwart
Death Spirit
Everything General

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

白 鬼
White, Ghost
————

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

Granary
Pestle, Storehouse