China's Lunar Calendar 2016 03-20

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/20..................................................................................................................3/14

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
二
十

日期星

Third Month, Twentieth Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, March 20

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

德歲合歲
日支日德

Generational Virtue
Linked Days
Generational Branch
Virtuous Days
—————

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

戌午寅
中吉凶
亥未卯 

吉凶吉

23:00-01:00 In-Between
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 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
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
除動造合
服土酒醬
Mixing Sauces
Making Liquor
Moving Soil
Discarding Clothing 

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
二
辛
丑
土
房
開
Twelfth Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: xinchou (38/60)

Phase (element): Earth
Constellation: Edifice (34/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

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Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
分春
三十午
十二正
分時    
宜
上移訂祭
樑徙婚祀
置修裁出
產造衣行
至鳥玄
復地寡水
喪囊宿痕

————
Spring Equinox
 In the wu hour; 12:30 o'clock
(the fourth of twenty-four fifteen-day solar periods on the agricultural calendar)

Appropriate Activities
 Venerating Ancestors
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Patterning Hair
Moving Soil
Repairing and Constructing
Raising Beams
Setting-up Production   

Swallows Return(the tenth of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods on the agricultural calendar)

Baleful Astral Influences

Water Scar
Orphan Hostel
Earth Duffel
Repeat Mourning  

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白 林

White, Copse
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

厠 灶 廚

Toilet, Stove, Kitchen