China's Lunar Calendar 2017 04-16

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
4/18..................................................................................................................4/10

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
六

日期星

Fourth Month, Sixteenth Day

Sunday, April 16

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

除六普
神合護

Universal Protection
Six Linkages
Discarding Spirits

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

凶中吉
亥未卯
中凶凶

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

07:00-09:00 Auspicious
9:00-11:00 Auspicious
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 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
動修詞
土倉松
Lawsuits and Litigation
Repairing Granaries
Moving Soil 

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

二
十
癸
酉
金
房
執
Twentieth Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: guiyou (10/60)

Phase (element): Metal
Constellation: Asterism (4/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)

————

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

宜

建裁祭
屋衣祀
安理祈
牀髮福
補掃訂
捉舎婚
安醫嫁
葬病娶
虛五
俱土咸
將符池
————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Marriage Engagements
Marriage Alliances
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair
Sweeping Rooms
Physician Treatments
Establishing Quarters
Positioning Beds
Seizing and Capturing
Positioning Graves    

Five Voids

Baleful Astral Influences

Widespread Pond
Earth Charm
Everything General

———— 

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
人

Person
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

房
門 牀

Edifice
Gate, Bed