China's Lunar Calendar 2014 11-19

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
11/21......................................................................................................................11/14

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
九
三期星

Eleventh Month, Nineteenth Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, November 19

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

進四月歲
神相德德

Generational Virtue
Lunar Virtue
Four Facings
Entering Spirits

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

吉凶吉

戌午寅
中凶吉
亥未卯

中吉中

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 In-Between
9:00-11:00 Inauspicious
11:00-13:00 Inauspicious
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between
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
塔苫出開
厠蓋財倉
Opening Granaries

Cash Outflow

Thatched Coverings

Building Outhouses

—————————————————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
七
甲

午
金

參
危

Twenty-Seventh Day (Intercalary Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiawu (31/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Gathering (21/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

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

宜
上開嫁祭
樑市娶祀
安交納祈
牀易采福
作修裁會
灶造衣友
安動移出
葬土徙行
將陰
天致天五
廢休死吏虛 

————
Appropriate Activities 
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Positioning Graves

Yin General

Baleful Astral Influences

Five Voids
Heavenly Official
Arriving-at Death
Heavenly Abandoned-Ceasing

————

Section Seven

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

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Information
碓 門 占
Pestle, Gate, Divination