China's Lunar Calendar 2014 12-20

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
二
十
六期星

Twelfth Month, Twentieth Day

Astral Period Six
Saturday, December 20

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天陰六吉
恩德合期

Auspicious Period
Six Linkages
Yin Virtue
Heavenly Benevolence

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

吉凶吉

戌午寅
中凶吉
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 Inauspicious
13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
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
行成除栽
喪服靈種
Planting and Cultivating
Expelling Spirits
Completing Clothing
Mourning Visits

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
九
乙

丑
金

柳
除

Twenty-Ninth Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yichou (2/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Willow (24/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

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

宜

土醫婚祭
上病納祀
樑立采祈
修約嫁福
倉交婚會
納易移友
畜修徙出
安造理行
葬動髮訂

大陰三
亡空將喪 

————
Appropriate Activities 
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Moving Households
Patterning Hair
Physician Visits
Making Appointments
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Putting-up Beams
Repairing Granaries
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Baleful Astral Influences

Three Mournings
Yin General
Great Loss-Void

————

Section Seven

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

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

厠 磨 碓

Toilet, Mortar, Pestle