China's Lunar Calendar 2016 05-06

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/6.................................................................................................................4/28

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
六
日

五期星

Fifth Month, Sixth Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, May 6

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不三歲
將合支

Generational Branch
Three Linkages
Not General

————

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

戌午寅
吉凶凶
亥未卯
凶中吉

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

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
問置買
卜產田
Buying Land
Setting-up Production
Divinatory Questioning

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

三
十
戊
子
火
鬼
危
Thirtieth Day Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: wuzi (25/60)

Phase (element): Fire
Constellation: Ghost (23/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information  
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
動嫁祭
土娶祀
上納祈
樑采福
安裁會
牀衣友
安理出
葬髮行
虛五
俱白水
將虎痕

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Positioning Graves  

Five Voids

Baleful Astral Influences

Water Scar
White Tiger
Everything General
————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白 火

White, Fire
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

房
碓 牀

Edifice
Pestle, Bed