China's Lunar Calendar 2014 12-31

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/2/2015..........................................................................................................................12/26

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
卅
一
三期星

Twelfth Month, Thirty-First Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, December 31

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

敬金
安匱

Golden Cupboard-bare
Revered Calm

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

吉吉吉

戌午寅
吉凶中
亥未卯
吉中中

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

07:00-09:00 Inauspicious
9:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 Inauspicious
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
動作
土灶
Stove Work
Moving Soil

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
十
丙
子

水

箕
建

Tenth Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingzi (13/60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Winnowing Basket (7/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Establish (1/12)

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

宜
拆
卸
掃
舍
月歲
建破
土債
府不

————
Appropriate Activities 
Unhitching and Unloading
Sweeping Rooms

Baleful Astral Influences

Generational Destruction
Debt Not
Lunar Establishment
Earth Palace

————

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
人 鬼
Person, Ghost

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

廚

碓 灶

Kitchen
Pestle, Stove