China's Lunar Calendar 2014 04-20

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT April 28 ........................................................................................................April 20 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
二
十

日期星

Fourth Month, Twentieth Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, April 20

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

除寶六
神光合

Six Linkages
Precious Ray
Expelling Spirits

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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
凶吉吉

亥未卯

中中凶

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

07:00-09:00 Auspicious
09:00-11:00 In-Between
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 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.

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

忌
動造合
土酒醬

Mixing Sauces
Making Liquor
Moving Soil

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 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
一
辛

酉
木
房
執

Twenty-First Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: xinyou (58/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: House (4/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)

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

雨穀
六五十午
分十一     
        時初
宜
除醫理
服病髮
安捕掃
葬捉舍
生始萍
陰土咸
將符池

Corn Rain
Begins in the Wu hour; 11:56 a.m.
(the sixth of twenty-four fifteen-day solar periods on the agricultural calendar)

Appropriate Activities

Patterning Hair
Sweeping Rooms
Physician Visits
Seizing and Apprehending
Discarding Clothing
Positioning Graves

Floating Weeds Appear
(the sixteenth of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods on the agricultural calendar)

Baleful Astral Influences

Widespread Pond
Earth Charm
Yin General

————
 Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
人    
Person       
————

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

Kitchen
Gate, Stove