China's Lunar Calendar 2015 06-03

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/6..............................................................................................................5/30

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
三
日

三期星

Sixth Month, Third Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, June 3

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十解月歲
靈神德德
Generational Virtue
Lunar Virtue
Releasing Spirits
Ten Spirits

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

中中凶

戌午寅
凶吉中
亥未卯
凶吉中

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
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
作修結經
灶廚網絡
Energy Channeling
Binding Nets
Repairing Kitchens
Stove Work

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
七
庚
戌
金

參
執

Seventeenth Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengxu (47/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Gathering (21/28)

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

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

宜
上理嫁祭
樑髮娶祀
安醫納祈
牀病采福
捕修裁祈
捉造衣嗣
安動移會
葬土徙友
星火
陰天小九
 將賊耗鬼土

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

Meeting Friends

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing

Moving Residences

Patterning Hair

Physician Visits

Repairing and Building

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Seizing and Capturing

Positioning Graves

Fire Star

Baleful Astral Influences

 Nine Ghost-Soils
Small Squander
Heavenly Thief
Yin General

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
白 地

White, Earth

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

栖 磨 碓

Perch, Mortar, Pestle