China's Lunar Calendar 2017 09-17

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/19...........................................................................................................9/12

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
七

日期星

Ninth Month, Seventeenth Day

Sunday, September 17

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

生合歲
氣日德

Generational Virtue
Linked Days
Engendered Vapor

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

中吉中
亥未卯
吉吉凶

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
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
動整理
土甲髮

Patterning Hair
Ordering Nails
Moving Soil

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
七
丁
未
水
昂
開
Twenty-Seventh Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dingwei (44/60)

Phase (element): Water
Constellation: Pleiades (18/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

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

宜

移出祭
徙行祀
上訂祈
梁婚福
牧納入
養采學
納裁會
畜衣友
符土
寡羊下
宿口兀
————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Residences
Raising Beams
Raising Livestock
Livestock Payments

Earth Charm

Baleful Astral Influences

Lower Amputee
Goat Mouth
Orphan Hostel

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
丫 人

Bifurcation, Person
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

倉

厠 庫
Granary
Toilet, Storehouse