China's Lunar Calendar 2015 02-15

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
2/18..............................................................................................................................2/10

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
十
五

日期星

Second Month, Fifteenth Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, February 15

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天合天
喜日德

Heavenly Virtue
Linked Days
Heavenly Happiness

—————————————————

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

中吉凶

戌午寅
吉中吉
亥未卯
吉吉吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
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
田放開
獵水渠
Opening Sluices
Putting-into Water
Field Venery

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
七
壬
戌
水

星
成

Twenty-Seventh Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renxu (59/60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Asterism (25/28)

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

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

宜
修裁祭
倉衣祀
醞修祈
釀 造福
納動入
畜土學
安上會
葬樑友
不債
地月密
火厭日

————
Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Cutting-out Clothing

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Putting-up Beams

Repairing Granaries

Fermenting Beverages

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves

Debt Not

Baleful Astral Influences

Mysterious Days
Lunar Repression
Earth Fire

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
丫 水
Bifurcation, Water

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

倉

栖 庫

Granary
Perch, Storehouse