China's Lunar Calendar 2016 04-15

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
4/19.................................................................................................................4/12

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
十
五

五期星

Fourth Month, Fifteenth Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, April 15

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

官德天
日合月

Heavenly Lunarity
Virtuous Linkage
Official Days 

————

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

戌午寅
凶吉凶
亥未卯 

吉吉凶

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

07:00-09:00 In-Between
9:00-11:00 In-Between
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 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
開穿理
池井髮
Patterning Hair
Boring Wells
Opening Ponds 

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
九
丁
卯
火
亢
閉
Ninth Day Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dingmao (4/60)

Phase (element): Fire
Constellation: Neck (2/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Closed (12/12)

————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
動嫁祭
土娶祀
安納祈
牀采福
捕移出
塞徙行
安開訂
葬市婚
忌楊
陽月血
將害支

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Households
Opening Markets
Moving Soil
Positioning Beds
Patching and Plugging
Positioning Graves  

Poplar Taboo

Baleful Astral Influences

Blood Branch
Lunar Harm
Yang General 

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

人 山

Person, Mountain
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

門
庫 倉 

Gate
Storehouse, Granary