China's Lunar Calendar 2015 04-06

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
4/9...................................................................................................................4/2

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
六
日

一期星

Fourth Month, Sixth Day

Astral Period One
Monday, April 6

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

月天德歲
德德日支
Generational Branch

Virtuous Days

Heavenly Virtue

Lunar Virtue

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

中吉凶

戌午寅
凶凶吉
亥未卯
中吉吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
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
娶天放開
魚獵水渠
Opening Sluices

Putting-into Water

Field Venery

Garnering Fish

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
八
壬
子
木

畢
成

Eighteenth Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renzi (49/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Net (19/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)
*A day-personality is repeated occasionally, as it is today.

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

宜

動理出祭
土髮行祀
上開嫁祈
樑市娶福
安交納入
牀易采學
安修醫會
葬造病友
忌歸
俱四班上
將耗煞兀

————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Physician Visits

Patterning Hair

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Building

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Positioning Graves
 
Return Taboo

Baleful Astral Influences
Upper Amputee
Classified Balefulness
Four Stalwarts
Everything General

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
白 地
White, Earth

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous
碓 庫 倉

Pestle, Storehouse, Granary