China's Lunar Calendar 2014 05-30

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/1......................................................5/29........................Monthly Information

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
三
十

五期星

Fifth Month, Thirtieth Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, May 30

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天天玉天
醫喜堂德

Heavenly Virtue
Jade Hall
Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician

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

酉己丑

凶吉吉
戌午寅
中吉吉

亥未卯

凶凶吉

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
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
作修造合
灶廚酒醬

Mixing Sauces
Making Liquor
Repairing Kitchens
Stove Work

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 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
二
辛
丑
土
婁
成

Second Day (Fifth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengzi (38//60)

Phase (element): Earth

Constellation: Mound (16/28)

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

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

宜
修醫出祭
倉病行祀
築修訂祈
堤造婚福
安動納入
牀土采學
安上嫁會
葬樑婚友
忌歸
厭火債下
對星不兀

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Physician Visits
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Repairing Granaries
Constructing Dikes
Positioning Beds
Positioning Graves

Return Taboo

Baleful Astral Influences

Lower Amputee
Debt Not
Fire Star
Mutual Loathing

————

  Section Seven

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

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information 
(right to left)
厠 灶 廚
Toilet, Stove, Kitchen
————