China's Lunar Calendar 2015 09-26

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
廿
六

六期星

Ninth Month, Twenty-Sixth Day

Astral Period Six
Saturday, September 26

———————————————— 

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天歲德歲
喜馬合月
Generational Lunarity
Virtuous Linkage
Generational Horse
Heavenly Happiness

—————————————————

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

吉凶凶
戌午寅
吉中中

亥未卯
凶吉凶

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
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
成除遠栽
服靈行種
Planting and Cultivating
Distant Journeys 
Expelling Spirits
Completing Clothing

—————————————————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
四
乙
巳
火
柳
成
Fourteenth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yiji (42/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Willow (24/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

—————————————————  

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
安修移入
牀造徙學
納動醫會
畜土病友
口蛇
復重月下
喪日忌兀

————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Households
Physician Treatments
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Repairing Granaries
Positioning Beds
Livestock Payments

Snake Mouth

Baleful Astral Influences
Lower Amputee
Lunar Taboo
Doubled Days
Repeat Mourning

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白 山
White, Mountain

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

牀 磨 碓

Bed, Mortar, Pestle