China's Lunar Calendar 2014 12-01

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
一十
日二
    月
一期星

Twelfth Month, First Day

Astral Period One
Monday, December 1

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

青普
龍護

Universal Protection
Blue-green Dragon

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

吉凶中

戌午寅
吉吉中
亥未卯

吉中中

23:00-01:00 Inauspicious
01:00-03:00 In-Between
03:00-05:00 In-Between
05:00-07:00 In-Between

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
21:00-23:00 Auspicious

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
作修
灶廚
Repairing Kitchens
Stove Work

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
十
丙

午
水

心
危

Tenth Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingwu (43/60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Heart-Mind (5/28)

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

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

宜
動祭
土祀
栽祈
種福
伐掃
木舍
田修
獵造
復
喪
陰五
將虛

————
Appropriate Activities 
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Sweeping Rooms
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Planting and Cultivating
Felling Timber
Field Venery

Repeat Mourning

Baleful Astral Influences

Five Voids
Yin General

————

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
人
Person

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Information

廚

碓 灶

Kitchen
Pestle, Stove