China's Lunar Calendar 2017 10-15

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/19...............................................................................................................10/12

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
五
日期星

Tenth Month, Fifteenth Day

Sunday, October 15

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十五歲
靈富馬

Generational Horse
Five Abundances
Ten Spirits

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

中中吉
亥未卯
中吉凶

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
19:00-21:00 In-Between
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
動嫁栽
土娶種
Planting and Cultivating
Marriage Alliances
Moving Soil

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
六
乙
亥
火
昂
除
Twenty-Sixth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yisi (12/60)

Phase (element): Fire
Constellation: Pleiades (18/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

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

宜

安醫會
牀病友
作開裁
灶市衣
開交理
倉易髮
入上掃
庫梁舎
符土
五重豬
虛日口
————

Appropriate Activities
Meeting Friends
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair
Sweeping Rooms
Physician Visits
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Opening Granaries
Entering Storehouses

Earth Charm

Baleful Astral Influences

Hog Mouth
Doubled Days
Five Vacancies

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
丫 林

Bifurcation, Copse
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

碓

牀 磨

Pestle
Bed, Mortar