China's Lunar Calendar 2015 12-24

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/1/2016............................................................................................................12/24

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
四

四期星

Twelfth Month, Twenty-Fourth Day

Astral Period Four
Thursday, December 24

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

月生時四
恩氣陽相

Four Facings
Timely Yang
Engendered Vapor
Lunar Kindness

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

戌午寅
中凶吉

亥未卯
中吉吉

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 In-Between
17:00-19:00 In-Between
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
塞補出開
穴垣財倉
Opening Granaries
Cash Outflow
Patching Embankments
Plugging Caves 

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
四
甲
戌
火
角
開
Fourteenth Day Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiaxu (11/60)

Phase (element): Fire
Constellation: Horn (1/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12) 

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

宜
作修訂祭
灶造婚祀
置動納祈
產土采福
開上裁入
渠樑衣學
穿安開會
井門市友
虛五
俱天寡月
將刑宿忌

————
Appropriate Activities 
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
 Meeting Friends
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Opening Markets
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Gates
Stove Work
Setting-up Production
Opening Sluices
Boring Wells   
 
Five Voids

Baleful Astral Influences

Lunar Taboo

Widowed Hostel

Heavenly Punishment

Everything General
———— 
 

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白 火

White, Fire

———— 
Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

栖 碓 門 

Perch, Pestle, Gate