China's Lunar Calendar 2016 01-05

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/9............................................................................................................1/2/2016

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
五
日

二期星

First Month, Fifth Day

Astral Period Two
Tuesday, January 5

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

月生時
空氣陽

Timely Yang
Engendered Vapor
Lunar Vacancy

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

戌午寅
吉凶吉

亥未卯
吉中吉

23:00-01:00 Auspicious
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 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
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
伐作修
木灶廚
Kitchen Repairs
Stove Work
Felling Timber

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
六
丙
戌
土
室
開
Twenty-Sixth Day Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingxu (23/60)

Phase (element): Earth
Constellation: Room (13/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12) 

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

宜
上訂祭
樑婚祀
置裁祈
產衣福
栽修入
種造學
牧動會
養土友
虛五
天住寡
刑亡宿

————
Appropriate Activities 
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Marriage Engagements
Cutting-out Clothing
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Setting-up Production
Planting and Cultivating
Raising Livestock    

Five Voids

Baleful Astral Influences

Orphan Hostel
Dwell Loss
Heavenly Punishment 

 ———— 

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白 神

Bifurcation, Fire
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

碓
門 磨

Kitchen
Perch, Stove