China's Lunar Calendar 2016 05-18

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/18................................................................................................................5/11

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
八

三期星

Fifth Month, Eighteenth Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, May 18

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天月三歲
馬德合支

Generational Branch
Three Linkages
Lunar Virtue
Heavenly Horse

————

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

戌午寅
吉中凶
亥未卯
凶吉中

23:00-01:00 Inauspicious
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 In-Between
11:00-13:00 In-Between
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

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
進新問結
水船卜網
Binding Nets
Divinatory Inquiries
New Boats
Entering Water

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
二
庚
子
土
箕

危
Twelfth Day Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengzi (37/60)

Phase (element): Earth
Constellation: Winnowing Basket (7/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information  
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

修移訂祭
倉徙婚祀
安修納祈
牀造采福
作動嫁會
灶土娶友
安上裁出
葬樑衣行
痕水
陰白五鼠
將虎虛口

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Repairing Granaries
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Positioning Graves

Water Scar  

Baleful Astral Influences

Rat Mouth
Five Voids
White Tiger
Yin General
————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白 火

White, Fire
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

磨 碓 占

Mortar, Pestle, Divination