China's Lunar Calendar 2017 10-10

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/11...............................................................................................................10/3

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
日

二期星

Tenth Month, Tenth Day

Tuesday, October 10

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不月天歲
將恩喜祿

Generational Emolument
Heavenly Happiness
Lunar Kindness
Not General

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

凶吉吉
亥未卯
中吉凶

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
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
田搭苫結
獵厠蓋網

Binding Nets
Thatched Coverings 
Erecting Toilets
Field Venery

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
一
庚
午
土
室
成
Twenty-First Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengwu (7/60)

Phase (element): Earth
Constellation: Room (13/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

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

宜

土醫行祭
上病訂祀
梁開婚祈
安市納福
牀交采入
修易嫁學
倉修娶會
安造移友
葬動徙出

天班刀
刑煞砧
————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Spirits
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Moving Residences
Physician Inquiries
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Repairing Granaries
Positioning Graves

Baleful Astral Influences

Sword Anvil
Classified Balefulness
Heavenly Punishment

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
人 水

Person, Water
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

磨 碓 占

Mortar, Pestle, Divination