China's Lunar Calendar 2018 01-16

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/16........................................................................................................1/9

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-solar (or "luni-solar" calendar; I call it the "lunar" calendar in order to distinguish it from the kinds of calendars most Westerners use. It has a basic translation and minimal interpretation. Unless you have been studying 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. You will likely find that several of the translations seem quite "fanciful" in English. I am simply trying to convey that they also sound fairly fanciful in Chinese.

Section One

Solar Calendar Date
十
六

二期星

First Month, Sixteenth Day 
Tuesday, January 16

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

陽五福
德富生

Engendered Fortune
Five Wealths
Yang Virtue

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

中中凶
亥未卯
中凶凶

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

07:00-09:00 Auspicious
9:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 In-Between
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 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
安置買
牀業田

Buying Land
Setting-up Industry
Positioning Beds

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

三
十

戊
申
土
翌

危
Thirtieth Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: wushen (45/60)

Phase (element): Earth
Constellation: Wings (27/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

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

宜

醞掃祭
釀舎祀
栽開祈
種市福
開立裁
倉約衣
納交理
畜衣髮
痕水
俱復火
將喪星

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair
Sweeping Rooms
Opening Markets
Making Appointments
 Trade and Commerce
Fermenting Beverages
Planting and Cultivating
Opening Granaries
Livestock Payments

Water Scar

Baleful Astral Influences

Fire Star
Repeat Mourning
Everything General

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
白 火

White, Fire
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities 
房
爐 牀

Edifice
Furnace, Bed