China's Lunar Calendar 2015 12-30

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
三
十

三期星

Twelfth Month, Thirtieth Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, December 30

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不天三歲
將恩合德

Generational Virtue
Three Linkages
Heavenly Kindness
Not General

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

戌午寅
凶凶吉

亥未卯
吉吉中

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

07:00-09:00 Auspicious
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 Inauspicious
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
產修栽結
室置種網
Binding Nets
Planting and Cultivating
Repairing Rooms
Setting-up Production

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

二
十
庚
辰
金
箕
定
Twentieth Day Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengchen (17/60)

Phase (element): Metal
Constellation: Winnowing Basket (7/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12) 

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

宜
上立納祭
樑約采祀
安交嫁祈
牀易娶福
作修裁會
灶造衣友
安動移訂
葬土徙婚
氣死
天大伏暗
牢亡空斷金

————
Appropriate Activities 
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing

Moving Households

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Positioning Graves  

 Death Vapor

Baleful Astral Influences

Dark Metal
Prostrate Breakage
Great Loss-Void
Heavenly Penitentiary

 ———— 

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白

White
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

栖 磨 碓

Perch, Mortar, Pestle