China's Lunar Calendar 2016 01-21

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
廿
一

四期星

First Month, Twenty-First Day

Astral Period Four
Thursday, January 21

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十金時
靈匱德

Timely Virtue
Golden Cupboard-bare
Ten Spirits 

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

戌午寅
吉中吉

亥未卯
中凶吉

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 In-Between
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 Auspicious
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
祈祭開
福祀渠
Opening Sluices

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
二
壬
寅
金
角
除
Twelfth Day Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renyin (39//60)

Phase (element): Metal
Constellation: Horn (1/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12) 

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

宜

掃交入
舍易學
安修理
床造髮
作動移 
灶土徙
安上開
葬樑市
痕水
陰劫五
將煞虛

————
Appropriate Activities 
Entering Study
Patterning Hair
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Buildling
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Sweeping Floors
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Positioning Graves    
  

Water Scar

Baleful Astral Influences

Five Voids
Plundered Balefulness
Yin General

 ———— 

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白

White
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

倉

爐 庫

Granary
Furnace, Storehouse