China's Lunar Calendar 2016 01-24

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/30..............................................................................................................1/23

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
四

日期星

First Month, Twenty-Fourth Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, January 24

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

四歲德歲
相馬合天

Generational Heaven
Virtuous Linkage
Generational Equine
Four Facings  

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

戌午寅
吉中中

亥未卯
凶凶中

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

07:00-09:00 In-Between
9:00-11:00 Inauspicious
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 Inauspicious

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
成除遠栽
服靈行種
Planting Crops
Distant Journeys
Exorcising Spirits
Completing Clothing  

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
五
乙
巳
火
房
定
Fifteenth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yisi (42//60)

Phase (element): Fire
Constellation: Edifice (4/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (5/12) 

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

平

醞修納祭
釀造采祀
安動移祈
門土徙福
作上立會
灶樑約友
納修交嫁
畜倉易取
日重
厭死小密
 對氣亡空日

————
Appropriate Activities  
Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Moving Households

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Repairing Granaries

Fermenting Beverages

Positoning Gates

Stove Work

Livestock Payments     

Doubled Days

Baleful Astral Influences

Mysterious Days
Small Loss-Void
Death Vapor
Mutual Repression

 ———— 

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

丫 林

Bifurcation, Copse
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

牀 磨 碓

Bed, Mortar, Pestle