China's Lunar Calendar 2015 05-28

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
八

四期星

Fifth Month, Twenty-Eighth Day

Astral Period Four
Thursday, May 28

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十陽時
靈德德
Timely Virtue
Yang Virtue
Ten Spirits

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

吉中凶

戌午寅
凶凶吉
亥未卯
凶吉中

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

07:00-09:00 Auspicious
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 Inauspicious
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
針出開
灸財倉
Opening Granaries
Capital Outflow
Acupuncture and Moxibustion

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
一
甲
辰
火

奎
閉

Eleventh Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiachen (41/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Asride (15/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Closed (12/12)

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

宜
作交祭
灶易祀
捕建祈
捉屋福
補安移
塞門居
安安立
葬牀約
虛五
陽月血
將煞支

————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Moving Residences

Setting Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Establishing Structures

Positioning Doors

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Seizing and Capturing

Patching and Plugging

Positioning Beds
 
Five Voids

Baleful Astral Influences

 Blood Branch
Lunar Balefulness
Yang General

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
白 水
White, Water

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Section Eight

Miscellaneous

門
栖 碓

Gate
Perch, Pestle