China's Lunar Calendar 2014 05-18

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/20.....................................................................................................................5/13

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
八

日期星

Fifth Month, Eighteenth Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, May 18

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

月天合歲
恩喜日德

Generational Virtue
Linked Days
 Heavenly Happiness
Lunar Kindness

—————————————————

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

酉己丑

吉吉凶
戌午寅
中中吉

亥未卯

凶凶吉

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 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 In-Between
13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
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.

————————————————— 

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

忌
取遠移詞
魚回徙訟

Lawsuits and Litigation
Moving Households
Distant Returns
Garnering Fish

—————————————————  

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

二
十
己
丑
火
房
成

Twentieth Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jichou (26/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Edifice (4/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

—————————————————  

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

宜
上開出祭
樑市行祀
安交訂祈
牀易婚福
作修納入
灶造采學
安動醫會
葬土病友
忌歸
四厭無密
擊對祿日

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Doctor Visits
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Positioning Beds

Return Taboo

Baleful Astral Influences

Mysterious Days
Without Emolument
Mutual Antagonism
Four Fisticuffs

————

  Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白 山
White, Mountain
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information
Compressed, with no information until 5/21

...Very strange, indeed...