China's Lunar Calendar 2016 03-30

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
4/6..................................................................................................................3/30

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
三
十

三期星

Third Month, Thirtieth Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, March 30

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十嫁造合
服取酒醬

Generational Virtue
Linkage of Days
Heavenly Happiness
Ten Spirits
—————

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

戌午寅
吉吉凶
亥未卯 

中吉吉

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 Inauspicious
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 Auspicious
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
除嫁造合
服取酒醬
Mixing Sauces
Fermenting Beverages
Marriage Alliances
Discarding Clothing

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
二
辛
亥
金
壁
成
Twenty-Second Day Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: xinhai (48/60)

Phase (element): Metal
Constellation: Jade Wall (15/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

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Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
安交裁入
牀易衣學
作修移會
灶造徙友
開動醫出
渠土病行
修上開納
倉樑市采
電始
陰元復重
將武喪日

————
Appropriate Activities
 Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Physician Visits
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Opening Sluices
Repairing Granaries    

First Lightning
(the twelfth of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods on the agricultural calendar)

 Baleful Astral Influences

Doubled Days
Repeat Mourning
Primal Martiality
Yin General

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

人

Person
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

牀 灶 廚

Bed, Stove, Kitchen