China's Lunar Calendar 2015 02-23

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/1.................................................................................................................2/22

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
三

一期星

Second Month, Twenty-Third Day

Astral Period One
Monday, February 23

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

時六歲歲
德合支德

Generational Virtue
Generational Branch
Six Linkages
Timely Virtue

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

吉中凶

戌午寅
凶吉吉
亥未卯
中吉中

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
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
成除動結
服靈土綱
Binding Nets
Moving Soil
Expelling Spirits
Completing Clothing

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
五
庚
午
土

心
定

Fifth Day (First Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengwu (7/60)

Phase (element): Earth

Constellation: Heart-Mind (5/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

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

宜
上理出祭
樑髮行祀
安移嫁祈
門徙娶福
開開納入
倉市采學
安交裁會
葬易衣友
囊地
死復月反
氣喪忌支

————
Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair
Moving Households
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Putting-up Beams
Positioning Doors
Opening Granaries
Positioning Graves

Earth Duffel

Baleful Astral Influences

Reflexive Branch
Lunar Taboo
Return Mourning
Death Vapor

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
丫 火
Bifurcation, Fire

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

磨 碓 占

Mortar, Pestle, Divination