China's Lunar Calendar 2015 09-06

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/12..................................................................................................................9/4

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

日期星

Ninth Month, Sixth Day

Astral Period Sun
Friday, September 6

———————————————— 

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

陰合歲
德日德
Generational Virtue
Linked Days
Yin Virtue

—————————————————

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

吉凶凶

戌午寅
中中凶
亥未卯
中中凶

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
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
補時栽
塞插種
Planting and Cultivating
Timely Injections
Plugging Caves

—————————————————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
四
乙
酉
水
房
除
Twenty-Fourth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yiyou (22/60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Edifice (4/28)

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

—————————————————  

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

宜

成整祭
服手祀
除足祈
服甲福
修掃沐
墳舍浴
安安理
葬門髮
離五
咸大密
池亡空日 

————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Bubbling and Bathing

Patterning Hair

Trimming Nails (hand and foot)

Sweeping Rooms

Positioning Gates

Completing Clothing

Discarding Clothing

Repairing Graves

Positioning Graves

Five Separations

Baleful Astral Influences

Mysterious Days
Great Loss-Void
Widespread Pond

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
白 人

White, Person

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

碓
門 磨

Pestle
Gate, Mortar