China's Lunar Calendar 2016 06-15

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/17................................................................................................................6/9

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

三期星

Sixth Month, Fifteenth Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, June 15

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

月生時時
恩氣陽德

Timely Virtue
Timely Yang
Engendered Vapor
Lunar Kindness

————

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

戌午寅
凶中凶
亥未卯
中吉吉

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
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
穿理
井髮
Buying Land
Setting-up Industry
Felling Timber
Field Venery 

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
一
戊
辰
木
箕
開
Eleventh Day (Fifth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: wuyin (5/60)

Phase (element): Wood
Constellation: Winnowing Basket (7/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

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

上移出祭
樑徙行祀
開醫訂祈
渠病婚福
穿開納入
井市采學
栽動裁會
種土衣友
虛五
陽九龍寡
將空口宿

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors 
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Physician Visits
Opening Markets
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Opening Sluices
Boring Wells
Planting and Cultivating        

Five Voids

Baleful Astral Influences

Orphan Hostel
Dragon Mouth
Nine Vacancies
Yang General
————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白

White
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

栖 牀 房

Perch, Bed, Edifice