China's Lunar Calendar 2017 04-19

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
4/25..................................................................................................................4/19

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
九

三期星

Fourth Month, Nineteenth Day

Wednesday, April 19

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不天天母
將醫喜倉

Maternal Granary
Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician
Not General 

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

凶凶中
亥未卯
吉中凶

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

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

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

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
取問作修
魚卜灶廚
Kitchen Repairs
Stove Work
Inquiring-into Fortune
Garnering Piscinity 

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
三
丙
子
水
箕
成
Twenty-Third Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingzi (13/60)

Phase (element): Water
Constellation: Winnowing Basket (7/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

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

宜

動醫出祭
土病行祀
上開嫁祈
梁市娶福
成交納人
服易采學
安修裁會
葬造衣友
忌歸
天班上月
牢煞兀忌
————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Physician Treatments
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Completing Clothing
Positioning Graves   

Return Taboo

 Baleful Astral Influences

Lunar Taboo

Upper Amputee

Classified Balefulness

Heavenly Penitentiary

———— 

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
白 地

White, Earth
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

碓 灶 廚

Pestle, Stove, Kitchen