China's Lunar Calendar 2014 10-07

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/14........................................................................................................................10/7

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
七
日

二期星

Tenth Month, Seventh Day

Astral Period Two
Tuesday, October 7

———————————————— 
Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十德歲
靈日支

Generational Branch
Virtuous Days
Ten Spirits

—————————————————

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

凶凶吉

戌午寅
吉吉吉
亥未卯

中吉凶

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

07:00-09:00 In-Between
09:00-11:00 Inauspicious
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 Auspicious
21:00-23:00 In-Between

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
除嫁醞
服娶釀
Fermenting Liquor
Marriage Alliances
Discarding Clothing

—————————————————  
 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
四

辛

亥

金
尾
滿

Fourteenth Day Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: xinhai (48/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Tail (6/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)

—————————————————  

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

宜
上理祭
樑髮祀
安移祈
門徙福
安修出
牀造行
補動裁
塞土衣
日復
大重上
亡空日兀

————
Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune

Going Out (and about)

Cutting-out Clothing

Patterning Hair

Moving Households

Repairing and Building

Moving Soil

Putting-up Beams

Positioning Doors

Positioning Beds

Patching and Plugging

Repeated Days

Baleful Astral Influences

Upper Amputee
Doubled Days
Great Loss-Void
————

  
Section Seven

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

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Information

廚
牀 灶

Kitchen
Bed, Stove