China's Lunar Calendar 2016 03-26

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
六

六期星

Third Month, Twenty-Sixth Day

Astral Period Six
Saturday, March 26

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

月陰續四
恩德世相

Four Facings
Continued Generations
Yin Virtue
Lunar Kindness 
—————

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

戌午寅
中吉凶
亥未卯 

吉吉凶

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
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
針栽整理
灸種甲髮
Patterning Hair
Trimming Nails
Planting and Cultivating
Moxibustion and Cauterization 

—————————————————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
八
丁
未
水
女
定 
Eighteenth Day Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dingwei (44/60)

Phase (element): Water
Constellation: Woman (11/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————————————————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
安上載祭
牀樑種祀
醞修移祈
釀開徙福
納倉修會
畜出造友
安貨動出
葬財土行
氣死
陽血八債
將忌專不

————
Appropriate Activities
 Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Residences
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Repairing Granaries
Opening Trade
Cash Outflow
Positioning Beds
Fermenting Beverages
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves   

Death Vapor

Baleful Astral Influences

Debt Not
Eight Specializaitons
Blood Taboo
Yang General

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白 人

White, Person
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

厠 庫 倉

Toilet, Storehouse, Granary