China's Lunar Calendar 2016 01-09

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
九
日

六期星

First Month, Ninth Day

Astral Period Six
Saturday, January 9

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

月天鳳歲
德德凰德

Generational Virtue
Phoenix
Heavenly Virtue
Lunar Virtue

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

戌午寅
凶中吉

亥未卯
中凶吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
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
祈祭作結
福祀灶網
Binding Nets
Stove Work
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune  

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

三
十
庚
寅
木
胃
除
Thirtieth Day Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengyin (27/60)

Phase (element): Wood
Constellation: Stomach (17/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12) 

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

宜

掃交裁會
舍易衣友
安修移出
牀造徙行
納動理嫁
畜土髮娶
安上開納
葬樑市采
痕水
天劫五火
賊煞虛行

————
Appropriate Activities 
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Patterning Hair
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Sweeping Floors
Positioning Beds
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves   

  
Water Scar

Baleful Astral Influences

Fire Star
Five Voids
Plundered Balefulness
Heavenly Thief

 ———— 

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白

White
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

爐 磨 碓

Furnace, Mortar, Pestle