China's Lunar Calendar 2015 06-27

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
七

六期星

Sixth Month, Twenty-Seventh Day

Astral Period Six
Saturday, June 27

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不詩三普
將陰合護
Universal Protection
Three Linkages
Timely Yin
Not General

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

中吉凶

戌午寅
中凶吉
亥未卯
中吉吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 In-Between
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
產修出開
室置財倉
Opening Granaries
Capital Outflow
Repairing Rooms
Setting-up Production

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
二
甲
戌
火
胃
定

Twelfth Day (Fifth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiaxu (11/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Stomach (17/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

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

宜

上開嫁祭

樑市娶祀

修交納祈

倉易采福

作修裁入

灶造衣學

醞動移會

釀 土徙友

鳴始調
木天死
馬刑氣

————
Appropriate Activities
 Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Repairing Granaries
Stove Work
Fermenting Beverages

Cicadas Sing
(the twenty-ninth of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods on the agricultural calendar)

Baleful Astral Influences

Death Vapor
Heavenly Punishment
Wooden Horse

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
白 火
White, Fire

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Section Eight

栖 碓 門

Perch, Pestle, Gate