China's Lunar Calendar 2014 10-28

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
11/5......................................................................................................................10/28

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
八
二期星

Tenth Month, Twenty-Eighth Day

Astral Period Two
Tuesday, October 28

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

除生四歲
神氣相馬

Generational Horse
Four Facings
Engendered Vapor
Expelled Spirits

—————————————————

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

吉吉吉

戌午寅
中中凶
亥未卯

中吉吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
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
作安放開
灶牀水渠
Opening Sluices
Putting-into Water
Positioning Beds
Stove Work

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

初

五
壬

申
金

翌
開

Fifth Day (Intercalary Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renshen (9/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Wings (27/28)

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

—————————————————  

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

宜
置開裁祭
產市衣祀
開修理祈
倉造髮福
栽動移入
種土徙學
除上醫出
服樑病行
落黃木草
月厭火五
忌對星離

————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Going Out (and about)
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair
Moving Households
Physician Treatments
Opening Markets
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Setting-up Production
Opening Granaries
Planting and Cultivating
Discarding Clothing

Leaves Turn Yellow and Fall
(the fifty-third of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods on the lunar calendar)

Baleful Astral Influences

Five Separations
Fire Star
Mutual Repression
Lunar Taboo

———— 
 

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
丫
Bifurcation
————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Information

爐 庫 倉

Furnace, Storehouse, Granary