China's Lunar Calendar 2017 09-26

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/2...............................................................................................................9/24

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
廿
六

二期星

Ninth Month, Twenty-Sixth Day

Tuesday, September 26

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十六歲
靈合支

Generational Branch
SIx Linkages
Ten Spirits

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

凶中中
亥未卯
吉中凶

23:00-01:00 Auspicious
01:00-03:00 In-Between
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 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 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
進新作
水船灶

Stove Work
New Boats
Entering Water

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
七
丙
辰
土
翌
危
Seventh Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingchen (53/60)

Phase (element): Earth
Constellation: Wings (22/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

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

宜

上移祭
梁徙祀
安交入
門易學
栽修訂
種造婚
安動裁
葬土衣
痕水
陰月大
將虛亡空
————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Entering Study
Marriage Engagements
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Residences
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Gates
Planting and Cultivating
Positioning Graves

Water Scar

Baleful Astral Influences

Great Loss-Void
Lunar Void
Yin General

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
白 火

White, Fire
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

廚

栖 灶

Kitchen
Perch, Stove