China's Lunar Calendar 2015 05-09

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/9.....................................................................................................................5/2

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
九
日

六期星

Fourth Month, Ninth Day

Astral Period Six
Saturday, May 9

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不時德歲

將陰合月

Generational Lunarity

Virtuous Linkage

Temporal Yin

Not General

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

吉凶凶

戌午寅
中中吉
亥未卯
凶中凶

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

07:00-09:00 Auspicious
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 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
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
取田時栽
魚獵插種
Planting and Cultivating

Timely Injections

Field Venery

Garnering Piscinity

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
一
乙
酉
水

柳
定

Twenty-First Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yiyou (22/60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Willow (24/28)

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

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

宜

樑開嫁祭
修市內祀
倉交采祈
安易嫁福
牀修取入
成造理學
服動髮出
安土移行
葬上徙訂

朱死五九
  雀氣離鬼土

————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Patterning Hair
Moving Households
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Repairing Granaries
Positioning Beds
Completing Clothing
Positioning Graves

Baleful Astral Influences

Nine Ghost-Soils

Five Partings

Death Vapor

Vermilion Bird

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
人 林
Person, Copse

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

門 磨 碓

Gate, Mortar, Pestle