China's Lunar Calendar 2016 03-23

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/29..................................................................................................................3/21

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
三

三期星

Third Month, Twenty-Third Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, March 23

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十月三歲
靈德合支

Generational Branch
Three Linkages
Lunar Virtue
Ten Spirits 
—————

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

戌午寅
凶凶凶
亥未卯 

吉吉中

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
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
成除出開
服靈財倉
Opening Granaries
Cash Outflow
Discarding Spirits
Completing Clothing 

—————————————————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
五
甲
辰
火
箕
除
Fifteenth Day Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiachen (41/60)

Phase (element): Fire
Constellation: Winnowing Basket (8/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————————————————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
上移訂祭
樑徙婚祀
栽理納祈
種髮采福
牧修嫁會
養造娶友
安動裁出
葬土衣行
將俱
天三上無
刑喪兀祿

————
Appropriate Activities
 Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing

Moving Households

Patterning Hair

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Planting and Cultivating

Raising Livestock

Positioning Graves 

Everything General

Baleful Astral Influences

Without Emolument
Upper Amputee
Three Mournings
Heavenly Punishment

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

丫 火

Bifurcation, Fire
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

栖 碓 門

Perch, Pestle, Gate