China's Lunar Calendar 2014 10-26

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/27......................................................10/24.............................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
廿
六

日期星

Tenth Month, Twenty-Sixth Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, October 26

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不月天天天
將恩醫喜貴

Heavenly Nobility
Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician
Lunar Kindness
Not General

—————————————————

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

吉中吉

戌午寅
凶吉吉
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 Inauspicious
09:00-11:00 In-Between
11:00-13:00 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
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.

————————————————— 

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

忌
塔進新裁結
厠水船衣綱
Binding Nets
Cutting-out Clothing
New Boats
Entering Water
Building Toilets

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

初

三
庚

午
土

星
成

Third Day (Intercalary Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengwu (7/60)

Phase (element): Earth

Constellation: Asterism (25/28)

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

—————————————————  

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

宜
築交嫁會祭
提易娶友祀
修修移出祈
倉造徙行福
安動醫訂求
牀土病婚嗣
安上開納入
葬樑市采學
星長
天班刀密水
刑煞砧日痕

————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestor
Inquiring-into Fortune

Taking-up Inheritance

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Marriage Alliances

Moving Households

Physician Treatments

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Putting-up Beams

Constructing Dikes

Repairing Granaries

Positioning Beds

Positioning Graves

Long Star

Baleful Astral Influences

Water Scar
Mysterious Days
Sword Anvil
Classified Balefulness
Heavenly Punishment

————

  
Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
丫 水
Bifurcation, Water
————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Information

磨 碓 占

Mortar, Pestle, Divination