China's Lunar Calendar 2015 05-27

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/29..............................................................................................................5/22

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
廿
七

三期星

Fifth Month, Twenty-Seventh Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, May 27

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

生時陰歲
氣德德祿
Generational Emolument
Yin Virtue
Timely Virtue
Engendered Vapor

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

凶中凶

戌午寅
吉中吉
亥未卯
凶凶吉

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

07:00-09:00 In-Between
9:00-11:00 In-Between
11:00-13:00 In-Between
13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
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
伐開穿詞
木池井訟
Lawsuits and Litigation
Boring Wells
Opening Ponds
Felling Timber

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
十
癸
卯
金

壁
開

Tenth Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: guimao (40/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Eastern Wall (14/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

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

宜
開移出祭
渠徙行祀
放修訂祈
水造婚福
作動納入
灶土采學
栽上裁會
種樑衣友
煞班
俱天債上
將火不兀

————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Opening Sluices
Putting-into Water
Stove Work
Planting and Cultivating

Classified Balefulness

Baleful Astral Influences

 Upper Amputee
Debt Not
Heavenly Fire
Everything General

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
人 人
Person, Person

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Section Eight

Miscellaneous

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Gate, Bed, Edifice