China's Lunar Calendar 2016 01-31

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
2/7..............................................................................................................1/31

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
卅
一

日期星

First Month, Thirty-First Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, January 31

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

六德歲
合日支

Generational Branch
Virtuous Days
Six Linkages

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

戌午寅
中吉凶

亥未卯
中凶吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
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
動房開
土水渠
Opening Sluices
Putting-into Water
Moving Soil

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
二
壬
子
木
虛
閉
Twenty-Second Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renzi (49/60)

Phase (element): Wood
Constellation: Void (11/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Closed (12/12) 

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

宜

伐建祭
木屋祀
納安沐
畜門浴
除塔詞
服厠訟
啟開理
攢池髮
符土
血下鼠
忌兀口

————
Appropriate Activities  
Venerating Ancestors
Bubbling and Bathing

Lawsuits and Litigation

Patterning Hair

Establishing Buildings

Positioning Gates

Building Outhouses

Opening Ponds

Felling Timber

Livestock Payments

Discarding Clothing

Setting-up Savings   

Soil Charm

Baleful Astral Influences

Rat Mouth
Lower Amputee
Blood Taboo

 ———— 

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白 水

White, Water
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

倉
碓 庫

Granary
Pestle, Storehouse