China's Lunar Calendar 2016 01-28

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
八

四期星

First Month, Twenty-Eighth Day

Astral Period Four
Thursday, January 28

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

進天天母
神醫喜倉

Maternal Granary
Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician
Entering Spirits

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

戌午寅
中吉中

亥未卯
凶凶凶

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

07:00-09:00 Auspicious
9:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 Auspicious
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 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
行除成詞
喪靈服訟
Lawsuits and Litigation
Exorcising Spirits
Completing Clothing
Mourning Visits  

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
九
己
酉
土
斗
成
Nineteenth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiyou (46/60)

Phase (element): Earth
Constellation: Ladle (8/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12) 

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

宜

動理訂祭
土髮婚祀
上掃納酬
樑舍采神
修開嫁入
倉市娶學
醞修移出
釀 造徙行
忌楊
陽復重班
將日喪煞

————
Appropriate Activities  
Venerating Ancestors
Invoking Spirits

Entering Granaries

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Marriage Alliances    

Moving Households

Patterning Hair

Sweeping Floors

Opening Markets

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Repairing Granaries

Fermenting Liquors    

Poplar Taboo

Baleful Astral Influences

Classified Balefulness
Repeat Mourning
Returning Days
Yang General  

 ———— 

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白  山

White, Mountain
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

門 大 占

Gate, Great, Divination