China's Lunar Calendar 2014 05-23

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/28..................................................................        ...................................................5/21

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
廿
三

五期星

Fifth Month, Twenty-Third Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, May 23

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

進天麒歲
神赦麟德

Generational Virtue
Phoenix
Heavenly Amnesty
Entering Spirits

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

酉己丑

吉中吉
戌午寅
中凶吉

亥未卯

凶吉中

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
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.

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

忌
塔苦出開
厠蓋財倉

Opening Granaries
Cash Outflow
Thatched Coverings
Building Outhouses

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 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
五
甲
午
金
牛
除

Twenty-Fifth Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiawu (31/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Ox (9/28)

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

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

宜
上理訂祭
樑髮婚祀
納醫納祈
畜病采福
除修嫁會
服造婚友
安動移出
葬土徙行
行短
陽大咸上
將時池兀

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagments
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Moving Households
Patterning Hair
Physician Treatments
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Livestock Payments
Discarding Clothing
Positioning Graves

Short Star

Baleful Astral Influences

Upper Amputee
Widespread Pond
Great Temporality
Yang General

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  Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白    
White         
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information
(right to left) 
碓 門 占
Pestle, Gate, Divination
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