China's Lunar Calendar 2014 11-04

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
四
日
二期星

Eleventh Month, Fourth Day

Astral Period Two
Tuesday, November 4

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

進麒合歲
神麟日德

Generational Virtue
Linked Days
Phoenix
Entering Spirits

—————————————————

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

凶中凶

戌午寅
中吉吉
亥未卯

凶吉吉

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

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 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
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
進新開穿
水船池井
Boring Wells
Opening Ponds
New Boats
Entering Water

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

十
二
己

卯
土

尾
執

Twelfth Day (Intercalary Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jimao (16/60)

Phase (element): Earth

Constellation: Tail (6/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)

—————————————————  

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

宜
捕修納祭
捉造裁祀
安竪嫁祈
門柱娶福
安上裁會
牀樑衣友
安醞醫訂
葬釀病婚
池咸
陰重五水
將喪虛痕

————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Cutting-out Clothing
Physician Treatments
Repairing and Building
Erecting Pillars
Putting-up Beams
Fermenting Beverages
Seizing and Capturing
Positioning Doors
Positioning Beds
Positioning Graves

Widespread Pond

Baleful Astral Influences

Water Scar
Five Voids
Return Mourning
Yin General

———— 
 

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白 山
White, Mountain
————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Information

門 大 占

Gate, Big, Divination