China's Lunar Calendar 2015 09-20

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/26...................................................................................................................9/18

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
二
十

日期星

Ninth Month, Twentieth Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, September 20

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

驛三歲
馬合支
Generational Branch
Three Linkages
Postal Horse

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

中凶凶
戌午寅
中吉吉

亥未卯
凶吉凶

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

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

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
成除嫁
服靈娶
Marriage Alliances
Exorcising Spirits
Completing Clothing

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
八
己
亥
木
昂
滿
Eighth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jihai (36/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Pleiades (18/28)

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

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

宜

動裁祭
土衣祀
上移祈
樑徙福
入開會
倉市友
補交出
塞易行
日重
俱元豬
將武口

————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Entering Granaries
Patching and Plugging

Doubled Days

Baleful Astral Influences

Hog Mouth
Primal Martiality
Everything General

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白
White

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Section Eight

Miscellaneous

占

牀 門

Divination
Bed, Gate