China's Lunar Calendar 2015 12-16

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
12/23.....................................................................................................................12/16

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
六

三期星

Twelfth Month, Sixteenth Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, December 16

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

福天相時
德馬日德

Temporal Virtue
Facing Days
Heavenly Horse
Fortunate Virtue

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

戌午寅
中凶中

亥未卯
中中吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
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
祈祭作修
福祀灶廚
Repairing Kitchens
Stove Work
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初

六
丙
寅
火
參
滿
Sixth Day Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingyin (3/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Gathering (21/28)

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

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

宜
補動裁入
塞土衣學
栽竪開會
種柱市友
成上交出
服樑易行
安安修納
葬門造采
忌歸
天白五孤
狗虎虛辰

————
Appropriate Activities
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Erecting Pillars
Raising Beams
Positioning Gates
Patching Plugging
Planting and Cultivating
Positioning Graves       

Return Taboo

Baleful Astral Influences

Orphan Dawn
Five Voids
White Tiger
Heavenly Dog   

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

丫 水

Bifurcation, Water
————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

爐 灶 廚

Furnace, Stove, Kitchen