China's Lunar Calendar 2015 07-06

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
7/6..................................................................................................................6/29

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
六
日

一期星

Seventh Month, Sixth Day

Astral Period One
Monday, July 6

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不十吉守
將靈期日
Protected Days
Auspicious Temporal-Slice
Ten Spirits
Not General

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

中吉凶

戌午寅
吉吉吉
亥未卯
中凶吉

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 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 In-Between
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
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
行成除詞
喪服靈訟
Lawsuits and Litigation
Expelling Spirits
Completing Clothing
Mourning Visits

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
一
癸
未
木
張
除

Twenty-First Day (Fifth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: guiwei (20/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Drawn Bow (26/28)

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

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

宜

動掃訂祭
土舍婚祀
上開嫁入
樑市娶學
安交理會
牀易髮友
安修移出
葬造徙行
喪復
孤勾三上
辰陳喪兀

————
Appropriate Activities
 Venerating Ancestors
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Marriage Alliances

Patterning Hair

Moving Households

Sweeping Floors

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Building

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Positioning Graves
 
Repeat Mourning

Baleful Astral Influences

Upper Amputee
Three Mournings
Narrative Hook
Orphan Dawn

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
人 林
Person, Copse

————

Section Eight

廁 牀 房

Toilet, Bed, Edifice