China's Lunar Calendar 2016 03-01

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/8..............................................................................................................3/1

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
一三
日月

二期星

Third Month, First Day

Astral Period Two
Tuesday, March 1

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天時合天
恩德日德

Heavenly Virtue
Linked Days
Temporal Virtue
Heavenly Kindness  

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

戌午寅
中中凶

亥未卯
吉吉吉

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

07:00-09:00 In-Between
9:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 In-Between
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
19:00-21:00 In-Between
21:00-23:00 Auspicious

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
進新塔開
水船厠渠
Opening Sluices

Building Outhouses

New Boats

Entering Water

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
三
壬
午
木
室
定
Twenty-Third Day (First Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renwu (19/60)

Phase (element): Wood
Constellation: House (13/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12) 

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

宜

上開出祭
樑市行祀
醞交嫁祈
釀易娶福
成修納求
服造采嗣
安動移會
葬土徙友
痕水
俱死白月
將氣虎忌

————
Appropriate Activities  
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-Into Fortune
Seeking Inheritance
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Households
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Fermenting Beverages
Completing Clothing
Positioning Graves     

Water Scar

Baleful Astral Influences

Lunar Taboo
White Tiger
Death Vapor
Everything General

 ———— 

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

人 火

Person, Fire
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

碓 庫 倉

Pestle, Storehouse, Granary