China's Lunar Calendar 2016 04-24

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
廿
四

日期星

Fourth Month, Twenty-Fourth Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, April 24

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不天天歲
將醫喜德

Generational Virtue
Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician
Not General

————

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

戌午寅
凶凶凶
亥未卯 

吉中中

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
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
取問作修
魚卜灶廚
Repairing Granaries
Stove Work
Divinatory Inquiry
Garnering Piscinity 

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
八
丙
子
水
虛
成
Eighteenth Day Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingzi (13/60)

Phase (element): Water
Constellation: Void (11/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
上開出祭
樑市行祀
修交嫁祈
 倉易娶福
成修納入
服造采學
安動醫會
葬土病友
煞班
密天歸觸
日牢吉水

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
 Physician Treatments
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Repairing Granaries
Completing Clothing
Positioning Graves    

Classified Balefulness

Baleful Astral Influences

Crashing Waters
Returning Taboo
Heavenly Penitentiary
Mysterious Days
————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

丫 地

White, Earth
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

碓 灶 廚

Pestle, Stove, Kitchen