China's Lunar Calendar 2016 11-07

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

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

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
七
日

一期星

Eleventh Month, Seven

Astral Period One 
Monday, November 7

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

六歲歲
合支祿
Generational Emolument
Generational Branch
Six Linkages

————

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

吉中凶
亥未卯
凶凶吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
19:00-21:00 IAuspicious
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
除遠詞
服行訟
Lawsuits and Litigation
Distant Travels
Discarding Clothing

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
八
癸
巳
水
危
破
Eighth Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: guisi (30/60)

Phase (element): Water
Constellation: Danger (12/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Destroy (7/12)

————

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

冬立
八四七辰
分十時初 
宜

破求
屋醫
壞治
垣病
冰始水
勾重月
陳日破
————

Beginning of Winter
At the beginning of the chen hour—7:48 o'clock
(the nineteenth of twenty-four fifteen-day solar periods on the agricultural calendar)

Appropriate Activities
Seeking Physicians
Treating Illness
Destroying Rooms
Smashing Walls

Water Begins to Freeze

(the fifty-fifth of seventy-two five-day solar micro-periods on the agricultural calendar)
Baleful Astral Influences

Lunar Destruction
Doubled Days
Narrative Hook

———— 

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
人 州

Person, Landmass

———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

占

牀 房

Divination

Bed, Edifice