China's Lunar Calendar 2014 04-13

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT April 19 ........................................................................................................April 12 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
三

日期星

Fourth Month, Thirteenth Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, April 13

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

時生陽歲歲
陽氣德祿德

Generational Virtue
Generational Emolument
Yang Virtue
Engendered Vapor
Timely Yang

—————————————————

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

凶吉凶
酉己丑

吉中中
戌午寅
凶凶吉

亥未卯

中吉中

23:00-01:00 Inauspicious
01:00-03:00 In-Between
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 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
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
田祈祭出開
獵福祀財倉

Opening Granaries
Cash Outflow
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Field Venery

—————————————————  

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
四
甲
寅
水
星
開

Fourteenth Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiayin (51/60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Asterism (25/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

—————————————————  

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

————
宜
作上立移入
灶樑約徙學
置開交理會
產渠易髮友
栽穿修醫出
種井造病行
成安動開裁
服牀上市衣
對 厭
月血招密上
忌忌搖日兀

Appropriate Activities

Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Patterning Hair
Physician Visits
Opening Markets
Setting-up Appointment
Trade and Commerce
Repairs and Building
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Opening Sluices
Boring Wells
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Setting-up Factories
Planting and Cultivating
Completing Clothing

Mutual Repression

Baleful Astral Influences

Upper Amputee
Mysterious Days
Rollicking Braggadocio
Blood Taboo
Lunar Taboo

 Section Seven

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

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

Furnace, Gate, Divination