China's Lunar Calendar 2015 12-18

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
八

五期星

Twelfth Month, Eighteenth Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, December 18

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

臨時聖三
日陰心合

Three Linkages

Sagely Heart-Mind

Temporal Yin

Entering Days

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

戌午寅
凶凶凶

亥未卯
中吉吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
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
時栽置買
插種業田
Buying Land
Setting-up Industry
Planting and Cultivating
Timely Injections 

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初

八
戊
辰
火
鬼
定
Eighth Day Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: wuchen (5/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Ghost (23/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

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

宜
土開行祭
上市訂祀
樑立婚祈
安約納福
牀交采入
作易嫁學
灶修娶會
安造理友
葬動髮出

天死小
 牢氣亡空

————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Patterning Hair
Opening Markets
Making Appointments
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Positioning Graves

Baleful Astral Influences

Small Loss-Void

Death Vapor

Heavenly Penitentiary

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白

White
————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

栖 牀房

Perch, Bed, Edifice