China's Lunar Calendar 2014 03-29

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT March 30.........................................................................................................March 23 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
九

六期星

Third Month, Twenty-ninth Day

Astral Period Six
Saturday, March 29

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

德歲德歲
日支合月

Generational Moon
Virtuous Linkage
Generational Branch
Virtuous Days

—————————————————

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

吉中凶

酉己丑
凶凶凶
戌午寅
中吉吉

亥未卯

凶吉吉

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 Inauspicious
11:00-13:00 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

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.

————————————————— 

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

忌
行成除嫁
喪服靈娶

Marriage Alliances
Expelling Spirits
Putting-together Clothing
Mourning Visits

—————————————————  

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
九
己
亥
木
女
成

Twenty-ninth Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jihai (36/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Woman (10/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

—————————————————  

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

宜
動醫出祭
土病行祀
上開納祈
樑市采福
作交裁入
灶易衣學
栽修移會
種造徙友
兀下
大元刀重
亡空武砧日 

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Residences
Physician Treatments
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Stove Work
Planting and Cultivating

Lower Amputee

Miscellaneous Information

 Doubled Days
Sword Anvil
Primal Martiality
Great Loss-Void
————

 Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白    
White       
————

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

Bed, Gate, Divination