China's Lunar Calendar 2015 05-10

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/17.....................................................................................................................5/10

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
十
日

日期星

Fourth Month, Tenth Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, May 10

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

解六天
神合德

Heavenly Virtue
Six Linkages
Unleashing Spirits

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

吉吉凶

戌午寅
吉中吉
亥未卯
凶中吉

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

07:00-09:00 Inauspicious
9:00-11:00 Auspicious
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 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
除作修
服灶廚
Repairing Kitchens
Stove Work
Discarding Clothing

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
二
丙
戌
土

星
執

Twenty-Second Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingxu (23/60)

Phase (element): Soil

Constellation: Asterism (25/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)

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

宜

掃訂祭
舍婚祀
安內祈
牀采福
捕裁求
捉服嗣
結理會
綱髮友
日復
重天小
喪賊耗

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

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing

Patterning Hair

Sweeping Rooms

Positioning Beds

Seizing and Capturing

Binding Nets

Returning Days

Baleful Astral Influences

Small Squander

Heavenly Thief

Repeat Mourning

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
人 地
Person, Earth

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

廚
栖 灶

Kitchen
Perch, Stove