China's Lunar Calendar 2014 06-01

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
一六
日月

日期星

Sixth Month, First Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, June 1

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars

生時陰母
氣陽德倉
Maternal Granary
Yin Virtue
Timely Yang
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

凶中中
戌午寅
吉中吉

亥未卯

凶凶吉

23:00-01:00 Inauspicious
01:00-03:00 In-Between
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 In-Between
13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
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
伐開穿詞
木池井訟

Lawsuits and Litigation
Boring Wells
Opening Ponds
Felling Timber

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 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
四
癸
卯
金
昂
開

Fourth Day (Fifth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renyin (40//60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Pleiades (18/28)

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

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

宜
動移出祭
土徙行祀
上開訂祈
樑市婚福
作交納入
灶易采學
栽修裁會
種造衣友
煞班
俱天灾密
將火煞日

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Stove Work
Planting and Cultivating

Classified Balefulness

Baleful Astral Influences

Mysterious Days
Disastrous Balefulness
Heavenly Conflagration
Everything General

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  Section Seven

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

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information 
(right to left)
門 牀 房 
Gate, Bed, Building
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