China's Lunar Calendar 2014 05-08

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
八
日

四期星

Fifth Month, Eighth Day

Astral Period Four
Thursday, May 8

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

生合歲
氣日德

Generational Virtue
Linked Days
Engendered Vapor

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

酉己丑

凶中凶
戌午寅
中吉吉

亥未卯

凶吉吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
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
動開穿
土池井

Boring Wells
Opening Ponds
Moving Soil

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 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
十
己
卯
土
井
開

Tenth Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jimao (16/60)

Phase (element): Earth

Constellation: Well (23/28)

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

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

宜
安訂祭
牀婚祀
上嫁入
樑婚學
入理會
倉髮友
牧開出
養市行
囊地
天灾班
火煞煞

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Marriage Alliances
Patterning Hair
Opening Markets
Positioning Beds
Erecting Beams
Entering Granaries
Raising Livestock

Earth Duffel

Baleful Astral Influences

Classified Balefulness
Disastrous Balefulness
Heavenly Conflagration

————

 Section Seven

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

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information
占
門 大

Divination
Gate, Big