China's Lunar Calendar 2016 04-20

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
4/27.................................................................................................................4/20

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

三期星

Fourth Month, Twentieth Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, April 20

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

臨月開
日德德

Heavenly Virtue
Lunar Virtue
Entering Days

————

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

戌午寅
凶中凶
亥未卯 

中吉吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
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
安放開
牀水渠
Opening Sluices
Putting-into Water
Positioning Beds

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
四
壬
申
金
箕
定
Fourteenth Day Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renshen (9/60)

Phase (element): Metal
Constellation: Winnowing Basket (7/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
安掃祭
門舍祀
成開祈
服市福
破交入
土易學
安入沐
葬入浴
星火
死上月
氣兀忌

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Bubbling and Bathing
Sweeping Rooms
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Entering Granaries
Positioning Doors
Completing Clothing
Ramming Earth
Positioning Graves    

Fire Star

Baleful Astral Influences

Lunar Destruction
Upper Amputee
Death Star

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白

White
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Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

倉
爐 庫

Granary
Furnace, Storehouse