China's Lunar Calendar 2015 06-12

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/15..............................................................................................................6/7

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
二

五期星

Sixth Month, Twelfth Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, June 12

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

六吉守四
合期日相
Four Facings
Protected Days
Auspicious Time-slice
Six Linkages

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

中吉凶

戌午寅
中吉吉
亥未卯 
凶吉吉

23:00-01:00 Inauspicious
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 Auspicious
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 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
行成除納
喪服靈采
Grain Payments
Exorcising Spirits
Completing Clothing
Mourning Visits

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
六
己
未
火

亢
除

Twenty-Sixth Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiwei (56/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Neck (2/28)

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

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

宜

醞修裁祭
釀造衣祀
安動理祈
牀土髮福
作上移入
灶樑徙學
安開掃出
葬倉舍行
不債
陰孤三水
將辰喪痕

————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Going Out (and about)
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair
Moving Households
Sweeping Rooms
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Opening Granaries
Fermenting Liquors
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Positioning Graves

Debt Not

Baleful Astral Influences

Water Scar
Three Mournings
Orphan Dawn
Yin General

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
丫 林
Bifurcation, Copse

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Section Eight

厠 門 占

Toilet, Gate, Divination