China's Lunar Calendar 2015 12-12

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
12/15....................................................12/11............Monthly Calendar Information

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
十
二

六期星

Twelfth Month, Twelfth Day

Astral Period Six
Saturday, December 12

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

生天月鳳
氣貴德凰

Phoenix
Lunar Virtue
Heavenly Nobility
Engendered Vapor

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

戌午寅
吉凶吉

亥未卯
吉吉吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
21:00-23:00 Auspicious

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
田詞放開
獵訟水渠
Opening Sluices
Putting-into Water
Lawsuits and Litigation
Field Venery

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初

二
壬
虛
水
胃
開
Second Day Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renxu (59/60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Stomach (17/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

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

宜
修交訂祭
倉易婚祀
安修納祈
門造彩福
作動裁入
灶土衣學
置上開會
產樑市友
交始虎
九五天反
空虛刑支

————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Repairing Granaries
Positioning Doors
Stove Work
Setting-up Industry 
 
Tigers Begin to Roam
(the sixty-second of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods on the agricultural calendar)

Baleful Astral Influences

Opposing Branch
Heavenly Punishment
Five Voids
Nine Vacancies

Section Seven

白 火

White, Fire
————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

栖 庫 倉

Perch, Storehouse, Granary