China's Lunar Calendar 2017 11-28

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
11/30.........................................................................................................11/23

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
八

二期星

Eleventh Month, Twenty-Eighth Day

Tuesday, November 28

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天合月麒
喜日德麟

Unicorn
Lunar Virtue
Concatenated Days
Heavenly Happiness

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

中吉吉
亥未卯
凶吉凶

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

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

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
進新取作
水船魚灶

Stove Work
Garnering Piscinity
New Boats
Entering War

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十

一
己
未

火
尾
成
Eleventh Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: xinmao (56/60)

Phase (element): Fire
Constellation: Tail (6/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (5/12)

————

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

宜

安豎訂祭
牀柱婚祀
栽上裁祈
種梁衣福
納修修入
畜倉造學
安醞動會
葬釀土友
不債
往厭火水 
亡對星痕

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Marriage Engagements
Cutting-out Clothing
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Erecting Pillars
Raising Beams
Repairing Granaries
Fermenting Beverages
Positioning Beds
Planting and Cultivating
Raising Livestock
Positioning Graves

Debt Not

Baleful Astral Influences

Water Scar
Fire Star
Mutual Repression
Toward Annihilation

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
人

Person
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

厠 門 占

Toilet, Gate, Divination