China's Lunar Calendar 2015 02-09

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
2/9..............................................................................................................................2/2

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
九
日

一期星

Second Month, Ninth Day

Astral Period One
Monday, February 9

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十月月
靈恩德

Lunar Virtue
Lunar Kindness
Ten Spirits

—————————————————

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

吉吉凶

戌午寅
凶中中
亥未卯
吉中中

23:00-01:00 Auspicious
01:00-03:00 Inauspicious
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 In-Between
13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
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
行作修
喪灶廚
Repairing Kitchens
Stove Work
Mourning Visits

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
一
丙
辰
水

畢
滿

Twenty-First Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingchen (53/60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Net (19/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)

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

宜
掃納祭
舍采祀
上裁祈
樑衣福
納移出
畜徙行
安開嫁
葬市娶
振始蟲鷙
天三厭
狗喪對

————
Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing

Moving Households

Opening Markets

Moving Soil

Putting-up Beams

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves

Dormant Creatures Twitch
(the second of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods on the agricultural calendar)

Baleful Astral Influences

Mutual Loathing
Three Mournings
Heavenly Dog

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
人 地
Person, Earth

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

廚
栖 灶

Kitchen
Perch, Stove