China's Lunar Calendar 2014 04-16

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
六

三期星

Fourth Month, Sixteenth Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, April 16

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

陰五德天
德富合月

Heavenly Days
Virtuous Linkage
Five Abundances
Yin Virtue

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

中中凶
酉己丑

吉吉吉
戌午寅
凶吉中

亥未卯

凶吉凶

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
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
成除遠栽
服靈行種

Planting and Cultivating
Distant Journeys
Expelling Spirits
Completing Clothing

—————————————————  

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
七
丁
巳
土
軫
除

Seventeenth Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dingsi (54/60)

Phase (element): Earth

Constellation: Running Board (28/28)

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

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

宜
修交納祭
倉易采祀
醞修裁祈
釀造衣福
栽動移會
種土徙友
納上開嫁
畜樑市娶
日重
陽劫五火
將煞虛星

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Erecting Beams
Repairing Granaries
Fermenting Beverages
Planting and Cultivating
Livestock Payments

Doubled Days

Baleful Astral Influences

Fire Star
Five Vacancies
Plundered Balefulness
Yang General 

————
 Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白 人
White, Person
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information 
(Top to bottom; right to left)
牀 庫 倉

Bed, Storehouse, Granary