China's Lunar Calendar 2014 11-08

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
11/13......................................................................................................................11/6

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
八
日
六期星

Eleventh Month, Eighth Day

Astral Period Six
Saturday, November 8

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十天六歲
靈喜合支

Generational Branch
Six Linkages
Heavenly Happiness
Ten Spirits

—————————————————

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

中凶凶

戌午寅
吉吉吉
亥未卯

中凶吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 In-Between
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
合裁作詞
帳衣灶訟
Lawsuits and Litigation
Stove Work
Cutting-out Clothing
Making Banners

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

十
六
癸

未
木

女
成

Sixteenth Day (Intercalary Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: guiwei (20/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Woman (10/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)*
*Occasionally a "personality cycle" day repeats, as today.

—————————————————  

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

宜
築修訂祭
堤造婚祀
醞動納祈
釀土采福
納竪開入
畜柱市學
安上交會
葬樑易友
星短
厭四火下
對擊星兀

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

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Building

Moving Soil

Erecting Pillars

Putting-up Beams

Constructing Dikes

Fermenting Beverages

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves
 
Short Star

Baleful Astral Influences

Lower Amputee
Fire Star
Four Fisticuffs
Mutual Repression

———— 
 

Section Seven

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

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Information

厠 牀 房

Toilet, Bed, Edifice