China's Lunar Calendar 2016 01-27

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
七

三期星

First Month, Twenty-Seventh Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, January 27

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

除司陽五
神命德富

Five Abundances
Yang Virtue
Private Mandate
Exorcising Spirits   

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

戌午寅
中中凶

亥未卯
中凶中

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

07:00-09:00 Auspicious
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 In-Between
19:00-21:00 In-Between
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
除安置買
服牀業田
Buying Land
Setting-up Production
Positioning Beds
Discarding Clothing 

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
八
戊
申
土
箕
危
Eighteenth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: wushen (45/60)

Phase (element): Earth
Constellation: Winnowing Basket (7/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12) 

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

宜

栽醞沐祭
種釀浴祀
入捕掃祈
倉捉社福
牧田開裁
養獵倉衣
納伐出理
畜木財髮
不債
俱復火五
將喪星離

————
Appropriate Activities  
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair
Bubbling and Bathing
Sweeping Floors
Opening Granaries
Cash Outflow
Fermenting Beverages
Seizing and Capturing
Field Venery
Felling Timber
Planting and Cultivating
Entering Granaries
Raising Livestock
Livestock Payments     

Not General

Baleful Astral Influences

Five Separations
Fire Star
Repeat Mourning
Everything General 

 ———— 

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白  火

White, Fire
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

爐 牀 房

Furnace, Bed, Edifice