China's Lunar Calendar 2014 12-15

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
12/21.........................................................................................................................12/13

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
五
一期星

Twelfth Month, Fifteenth Day

Astral Period One
Monday, December 15

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

除天青歲
神喜龍馬

Generational Horse
Blue-Green Dragon
Heavenly Happiness
Expelling Spirits

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

中吉吉

戌午寅
凶凶凶
亥未卯

中吉中

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
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
築動安結
提土牀綱
Binding Nets
Positioning Beds
Moving Soil
Constructing Dikes

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
四
庚

申
木

畢
成

Twenty-Fourth Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengshen (57/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Net (19/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

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

宜

作開裁入
灶市衣學
納立移會
畜約徙友
成交理出
服易髮行
安上醫納
葬樑病采
離五
陽大土猴
將煞符口

————
Appropriate Activities 
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Patterning Hair
Physician Visits
Opening Markets
Making Appointments
Trade and Commerce
Putting-up Beams
Stove Work
Livestock Payments
Completing Clothing
Positioning Beds

Five Separations

Baleful Astral Influences

Monkey Mouth
Earth Charm
Great Balefulness
Yang General

————

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白 地
White, Earth

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous
爐 磨 碓

Furnace, Mortar, Pestle