China's Lunar Calendar 2014 11-28

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
12/4.........................................................................................................................11/27

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
五期星

Eleventh Month, Twenty-Eighth Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, November 28

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不天陰時
將貴德陰

Timely Yin

Yin Virtue

Heavenly Nobility

Not General

—————————————————

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

凶凶中

戌午寅
吉中吉
亥未卯

中凶吉

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

07:00-09:00 In-Between
9:00-11:00 Inauspicious
11:00-13:00 In-Between
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
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
進新穿詞
水船井訟
Lawsuits and Litigation
Boring Wells
New Boats
Entering Water

—————————————————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
七
癸

卯
金

亢
定

Seventh Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: guimao (40/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Neck (2/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

—————————————————  

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

宜
上開嫁會
樑市娶友
修交裁出
倉易衣行
納修移訂
畜造徙婚
安動理納
葬土髮采
痕水
四元死上
祥不武氣兀 

————
Appropriate Activities 
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Patterning Hair
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Repairing Granaries
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Water Scar

Baleful Astral Influences

Upper Amputee
Death Vapor
Primal Martiality
Four Fortune-Nots

————

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白 人
White, Person
————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Information

門 牀 房

Gate, Bed, Building