China's Lunar Calendar 2015 01-21

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/23.............................................1/20...................Monthly Calendar Information

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
一

三期星

First Month, Twenty-First Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, January 21

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十天三母
靈喜合倉

Maternal Granary
Three Linkages
Heavenly Happiness
Ten Spirits

—————————————————

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

吉中吉

戌午寅
中吉中
亥未卯
吉凶凶

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
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
詞足整理
訟甲手髮
Patterning Hair
Tending Hands
Toenail Trimming
Lawsuits and Litigation

—————————————————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
二
丁
酉

火

軫
成

Second Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dingyou (34/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Running Board (28/28)

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

—————————————————  

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

宜

上開納祭
樑市采祀
醞交裁入
 釀易衣學
成修移出
服造徙行
安動醫嫁
葬土病娶
煞班
陽大五反
將煞離支

————
Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors

Entering Study
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Physician Visits
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Fermenting Beverages
Completing Clothing
Positioning Graves

 
Classified Balefulness

 
Baleful Astral Influences

Oppositional Branch
Five Separations
Great Balefulness
Yang General

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白 山
White, Mountain

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

庫 倉 門

Storehouse, Granary, Gate