China's Lunar Calendar 2015 06-28

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
八

日期星

Sixth Month, Twenty-Eighth Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, June 28

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十合歲
靈日德
Generational Virtue
Linked Days
Ten Spirits

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

中凶凶

戌午寅
中中吉
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  In-Between
9:00-11:00 Inauspicious
11:00-13:00  In-Between
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 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
除嫁栽
服娶種
Planting and Cultivating
Marriage Alliances
Discarding Clothing

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
三
乙
亥
火
昂
執

Thirteenth Day (Fifth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiaxu (12/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Pleiades (18/28)

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

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

宜

動會祭
土友祀
上理祈
樑髮福
捕移入
捉徙學
作修出
灶造行

日重
大小八
亡空耗專 

————
Appropriate Activities
 Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Going Out (and about)

Meeting Friends

Patterning Hair

Moving Households

Repairing and Building

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Seizing and Capturing

Stove Work
 
Doubled Days

Baleful Astral Influences

Eight Specialties
Small Squander
Great Loss-Void

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
白 山
White, Mountain

————

Section Eight

碓
牀 磨

Pestle
Bed, Mortar