China's Lunar Calendar 2015 04-24

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/1.....................................................................................................................4/23

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
四

五期星

Fourth Month, Twenty-Fourth Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, April 24

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

時歲
陰德

Generational Virtue
Timely Yin

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Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
吉中凶
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 Auspicious
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
苫結
蓋綱

Binding Nets
Thatched Coverings

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
六
庚
午
土

牛
滿

Sixth Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengwu (7/60)

Phase (element): Earth

Constellation: Ox (9/28)

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

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

宜

理出
髮行
開會
市友
除訂
服婚
安裁
葬衣
俱
將
天灾
刑煞

————
Appropriate Activities
Going Out (and about)

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Cutting-out Clothing

Patterning Hair

Opening Markets

Discarding Clothing

Positioning Graves

Everything General

Baleful Astral Influences

Disastrous Balefulness
Heavenly Punishment

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
白 水
White, Water

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Section Eight

Miscellaneous

占
磨 碓

Divination
Mortar, Pestle