China's Lunar Calendar 2014 03-21

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
廿
一

五期星

Third Month, Twenty-first Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, March 21

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

福明官
生堂日

Official Days
Luminous Hall
Engendered Fortune

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

中中凶

酉己丑
凶吉中
戌午寅
吉吉吉

亥未卯

中中吉

23:00-01:00 Inauspicious
01:00-03:00 In-Between
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 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00  In-Between
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00  Auspicious
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
穿造合
井酒醬

Mixing Sauces
Making Liquor
Boring Wells

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 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
一
辛
卯
木
亢
建

Twenty-first Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengyin (28/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Neck (2/28)

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

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

分春
七五零子
分十時正
宜
立出祭

約行祀

交赴會

易任友

至鳥玄
復土火
喪府星

Spring Parting (Spring Equinox)
Begins at the zi hour; 12:57 a.m.
(The fourth of seventy-two fifteen-day solar periods on the agricultural calendar)

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Taking-up Office
Setting-up Appointments
Trade and Commerce

Swallows Return
(The tenth of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods on the agricultural calendar)

Miscellaneous Information

 Fire Star
Earth Palace
Return Mourning

Section Seven
(right to left)

Inauspicious Stars 
人 神
Person, Spirit
————

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

Kitchen
Gate, Stove