China's Lunar Calendar 2014 04-03

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT April 3 ..................................March 31.......Monthly Calendar Information...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
三
日

四期星

Fourth Month, Third Day

Astral Period Four
Thursday, April 3

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十月歲
靈德德

Generational Virtue
Lunar Virtue
Ten Spirits

—————————————————

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

中吉凶

酉己丑
凶中吉
戌午寅
凶凶吉

亥未卯

吉吉中

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
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
行出開
喪財倉

Opening Granaries
Capital Outflow
Mourning Visits

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 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
四
甲
晨
火
奎
除

Fourth Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiachen (41/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Astride (15/28)

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

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

宜
上納祭
樑采祀
掃移祈
舍徙福
修理會
倉髮友
安動嫁
葬土娶
喪三
俱月下
將害兀

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Moving Households
Patterning Hair
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Sweeping Rooms
Repairing Granaries
Positioning Graves

Three Mournings

Miscellaneous Information

Lower Amputee
Lunar Harm
Collected Generality

————

 Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
丫 火
Bifurcation, Fire
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information 
(Top to bottom; right to left)
門
栖 碓

Gate
Perch, Pestle