China's Lunar Calendar 2015 01-26

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
2/1..............................................................................................................................1/24

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
六

一期星

First Month, Twenty-Sixth Day

Astral Period One
Monday, January 26

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十吉時歲
靈期德祿

Generational Emolument
Timely Virtue
Auspicious Temporal-Unit
Ten Spirits

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

中中吉

戌午寅
吉中吉
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 In-Between
11:00-13:00 In-Between
13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
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
祈祭放開
福祀水渠
Opening Sluices
Putting-into Water
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
七
壬
寅
金

心
除

Seventh Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renyin (39/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Heart-Mind (5/28)

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

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

宜

作動開入
灶土市學
安竪立理
牀柱約髮
除上交掃
服樑易舍
安安修移
葬門造居
痕水
陰劫五下
將煞虛兀

————
Appropriate Activities

Entering Study
Patterning Hair
Sweeping Rooms
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Making Appointments
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Erecting Pillars
Putting-up Beams
Positioning Gates
Stove Work
Positioning Beds
Discarding Clothing
Positioning Graves

 
Water Scar

Baleful Astral Influences

Lower Amputee
Five Voids
Plundered Balefulness
Yin General

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白
White

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

爐 庫 倉

Furnace, Storehouse, Granary