China's Lunar Calendar 2018 01-07

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/8........................................................................................................12/31

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
七
日

日期星

First Month, Seventh Day

Sunday, January 7

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

生歲
氣馬

Generational Horse
Engendered Vapor

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

中吉吉
亥未卯
凶凶凶

23:00-01:00 Auspicious
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 Inauspicious

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
除嫁
服娶

Marriage Alliances
Discarding Clothing

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
一

己
亥
木

昂
開
Twenty-First Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jihai (36/60)

Phase (element): Wood
Constellation: Pleiades (18/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

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

宜

沐祭
浴祀
治入
病學
安會
牀友
開理
渠髮
重
日
火上
星兀

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Patterning Hair

Bubbling and Bathing

Treating Illness

Positioning Beds

Opening Sluices

Doubled Days

Baleful Astral Influences

Upper Amputee
Fire Star

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
人 人

Person, Person
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

占
牀 門

Divination
Bed, Gate