China's Lunar Calendar 2014 10-16

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/23........................................................................................................................10/15

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
六

四期星

Tenth Month, Sixteenth Day

Astral Period Four
Thursday, October 16

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

(top to bottom, right to left)

驛月生歲
馬恩氣馬

Generational Horse
Engendered Vapor
Lunar Kindness
Postal Horse

—————————————————

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

中吉吉

戌午寅
凶吉凶
亥未卯

中吉中

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
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
進新安結
水船牀綱
Binding Nets
Positioning Beds
New Boats
Entering Water

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

廿
三
庚

申
木

奎
開

Twenty-Third Day Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiwei (57/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Astride (15/28)

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

—————————————————  

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

宜
上開裁祭
樑市衣祀
開交移祈
倉易徙福
作修理入
灶造髮學
置動醫出
產土病行
對厭
月五八水
忌離專痕

————
Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Entering Study

Going Out (and about)

Cutting-out Clothing

Moving Households

Patterning Hair

Doctor Visits

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Building

Moving Soil

Putting-up Beams

Opening Granaries

Stove Work

Setting-up Production

Mutual Repression

Baleful Astral Influences

Water Scar
Eight Specialties
Five Separations
Lunar Taboo
————

  
Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
人
Person
————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Information

爐 磨 碓

Furnace, Mortar, Pestle