China's Lunar Calendar 2015 05-18

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/21................................................5/18....................Monthly Calendar Information

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
十五
八月

一期星

Fifth Month, Eighteenth Day

Astral Period One
Monday, May 18

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

進天六歲
神赦合支

Generational Branch

Six Linkages

 Heavenly Amnesty

Entering Spirits

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

吉中凶

戌午寅
中凶吉
亥未卯
凶吉中

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 Inauspicious
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between
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
塔苫出開
厠蓋財倉
Opening Granaries

Capital Outflow

Thatched Coverings

Building Outhouses

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
一
甲
午
金

心
除

First Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiawu (31/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Heart-Mind (5/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

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

宜
上移訂祭
樑徙婚祀
栽醫納祈
種病采福
納修嫁會
畜造娶友
安動理出
葬土髮行
池咸
陽大大九
 將敗時鬼土

————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Patterning Hair
Moving Households
Physician Visits
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Planting and Cultivating
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Widespread Pond

 Baleful Astral Influences

 Nine Ghost-Soils
Great Temporality
Epic Defeat
Yang General

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
白
White

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Section Eight

Miscellaneous
碓 門 占

Pestle, Gate, Divination