China's Lunar Calendar 2014 05-07

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT May 12........................................................................................................May 4 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
七
日

三期星

Fifth Month, Seventh Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, May 7

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

母歲
倉祿

Generational Emolument
Maternal Granary

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

酉己丑

中吉吉
戌午寅
中吉凶

亥未卯

凶吉吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
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.

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

忌
动祭
土祀

Venerating Ancestors
Moving Soil*
*Note the use (uncommon in the calendar) of a simplified character, above.

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 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
九
戊
寅
土
參
收

Ninth Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: wuyin (15/60)

Phase (element): Earth

Constellation: Gathering (22/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Receive (10/12)

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

宜
建
屋
捕
捉
結
綱
取
魚
劫下
煞兀

Appropriate Activities
Establishing Rooms
Seizing and Capturing
Binding Nets
Garnering Fish

Baleful Astral Influences

Lower Amputee
Baleful Plunder

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 Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
人 鬼
Person, Ghost
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information
房
爐 牀

Edifice
Furnace, Bed