China's Lunar Calendar 2015 06-25

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/28....................................................................................................................6/21

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
五

四期星

Sixth Month, Twenty-Fifth Day

Astral Period Four
Saturday, June 25

———————————————— 

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天驛相
後馬日
Facing Days
Postal Horse
Heaven After

—————————————————

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

吉吉凶

戌午寅
中中凶
亥未卯
中吉吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
21:00-23:00 In-Between

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
安放開
牀水渠
Opening Sluices
Putting-into Water
Positioning Beds

—————————————————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
十
壬申
金
奎

滿
Tenth Day (Fifth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renshen (9/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Astride (15/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)

—————————————————  

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

宜

動理祭
土法祀
上移祈
樑徙福
納開出
畜市行
安修裁
葬造衣
虛五
陰孤無
將辰祿

————
Appropriate Activities
 Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Going Out (and about)
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair
Moving Households
Opening Markets
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Five Voids

Baleful Astral Influences

Without Emolument
Orphan Dawn
Yin General

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
人 地
Person, Earth

————

Section Eight

倉
爐 庫

Granary
Furnace, Storehouse