China's Lunar Calendar 2015 03-27

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
4/1...................................................................................................................3/25

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
七

五期星

Third Month, Twenty-Seventh Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, March 27

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十青五
靈龍富
Five Abundnances
Blue-Green Dragon
Ten Spirits

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

凶中凶

戌午寅
吉中吉
亥未卯
中吉吉

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
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
祭放開
祀水渠
Opening Sluices
Putting-into Water
Venerating Ancestors

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
八
壬
寅
金

牛
閉

Eighth Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renyin (39/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Ox (9/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Closed (12/12)

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

宜

築動裁
堤土衣
納竪立
畜柱月
成上交
服樑易
安醞修
葬釀造
兀下
歸血虎
忌支口

————

Appropriate Activities

Cutting-out Clothing

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Erecting Pillars

Putting-up Beams

Fermenting Liquor

Building Dikes

Livestock Payments

Completing Clothing

Positioning Graves

Lower Amputee

Baleful Astral Influences

Tiger Mouth

Blood Branch

Return Taboo

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
白 地
White, Earth

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

倉

爐 庫

Granary

Furnace, Storehouse