China's Lunar Calendar 2016 01-15

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/22..............................................................................................................1/15

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
五

五期星

First Month, Fifteenth Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, January 15

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

陽五福母
德富生倉

Maternal Granary
Lucky Engenderment
Five Wealths
Yang Virtue 

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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
吉中凶

亥未卯
吉凶中

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

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

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
安安作修
爐牀灶廚
Kitchen Repairs

Stove Work

Positioning Beds

Positioning Furnaces

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
六
丙
申
火
鬼
危
Sixth Day Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingshen (33/60)

Phase (element): Fire
Constellation: Ghost (23/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12) 

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

宜

開修掃祭
倉造舍祀
栽動移祈
種土徙福
納上開出
畜樑市行
安醞交理
葬釀 易髮
將陽
游刀元五
禍砧祿離

————
Appropriate Activities 
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Going Out (and about)
Patterning Hair
Sweeping Floors
Moving Households
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Fermenting Beverages
Opening Granaries
Planting and Cultivating
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves   

Yang General 

  
Baleful Astral Influences

Five Separations
Primal Emolument
Sword Anvil
Natatorial Disaster 

 ———— 

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白 火

White, Fire
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

爐 灶 廚

Furnace, Stove, Kitchen