China's Lunar Calendar 2017 10-20

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/23......................................................10/20..............Monthly Calendar Information

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
二十

十月
五期星

Tenth Month, Twentieth Day

Friday, October 20

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

六歲
合支

Generational Branch
Six Linkages

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

凶吉吉
亥未卯
吉吉凶

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 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 In-Between
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
開結
市網
Binding Nets
Opening Markets

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

除
一
庚
辰
金
鬼
破
First Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengchen (17/60)

Phase (element): Metal
Constellation: Ghost (23/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Destroy (7/12)

————

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

土
王
用
事
————
宜
破

屋

壞

垣

龍月
口破
下大
兀耗

————

Earth King Usages
(a division of the year into five seventy-two day segments)

Appropriate Activities
Felling Timber
Sweeping Rooms

Baleful Astral Influences

Generational Destruction
Upper Amputee
Water Scar
Repeat Mourning

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
白 鬼

White, Ghost
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

碓

栖磨

Pestle
Perch, Mortar