China's Lunar Calendar 2015 03-08

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/10.................................................................................................................3/2

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
八
日

日期星

Third Month, Eighth Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, March 8

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十陰寶三
靈德光合

Three Linkages
Precious Rays
Yin Virtue
Ten Spirits

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

凶吉凶

戌午寅
吉吉吉
亥未卯
中凶吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
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
進新針詞
水船灸訟
Lawsuits and Litigation

Acupuncture and Moxibustion

New Boats

Entering Water

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
八
癸
未
木

昂
定

Eighteenth Day (First Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: guiwei (20/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Pleiades (18/28)

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

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

宜

醞修訂祭
釀造婚祀
作動納祈
灶土采福
納上嫁會
畜樑娶友
安修移出
葬倉徙行
不債
俱血死觸
 將忌氣龍水

————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Moving Residences
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Repairing Granaries
Fermenting Beverages
Stove Work
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Debt Not

Baleful Astral Influences

Bumped Water-Dragon
Death Vapor
Blood Taboo
Everything General

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白 人
White, Man

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

厠 牀 房

Toilet, Bed, Edifice