China's Lunar Calendar 2014 03-19

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT March 21.........................................................................................................March 15 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

九
三期星

Third Month, Nineteenth Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, March 19

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

生時德歲
氣陰合月

Generational Lunarity
Virtuous Linkage
Temporal Yin
Engendered Vapor

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

吉中凶

酉己丑
凶吉凶
戌午寅
中中吉

亥未卯

凶凶吉

23:00-01:00 Inauspicious
01:00-03:00 Inauspicious
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 Inauspicious

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

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
塞補合裁
穴垣帳衣

Cutting-out Clothing
Putting-together Banners
Patching Embankments
Plugging-up Caves

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 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
九
己
丑
火
軫
開

Nineteenth Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jichou (26/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Running Board (28/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)
*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
上理出祭
樑髮行祀
修醫嫁祈
倉病娶福
置修納入
產造采學
納動移會
畜土徙友
不債
勾五寡短
陳虛宿星

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Households
Patterning Hair
Doctor Visits
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Repairing Granaries
Setting-up Industry
Livestock Payments

Debt Not

Miscellaneous Information

 Short Star
Orphaned Mansion
Five Vacancies
Rousing Narrative

Section Seven
(right to left)

Inauspicious Stars 
白 林
White, Copse
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information 
(Top to bottom; right to left)
厠 門 占

Toilet, Gate, Divination