China's Lunar Calendar 2015 03-30

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
三
十

日期星

Third Month, Thirtieth Day

Astral Period One
Monday, March 30

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

歲合歲
馬日德
Generational Virtue
Linked Days
Generational Horse

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

凶凶凶

戌午寅
吉中中
亥未卯
凶中中

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 In-Between
9:00-11:00 Inauspicious
11:00-13:00 In-Between
13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

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
動遠栽
土行種
Planting and Cultivating
Distant Journeys
Moving Soil

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
一
乙
巳
火

危
滿

Eleventh Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yisi (42/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Danger (12/28)

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

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

宜

安裁祭
牀種祀
作理祈
灶髮服
結竪會
綱柱友
捕上訂
塞樑婚
忌楊
土重債
符日不

————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Cutting-out Clothing

Patterning Hair

Erecting Pillars

Putting-up Beams

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Binding Nets

Plugging Caves

Poplar Taboo

Baleful Astral Influences

Debt Not
Doubled Days
Earth Charm

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
人 山
Person, Mountain

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Section Eight

Miscellaneous
碓
牀 磨 

Pestle
Bed, Mortar