China's Lunar Calendar 2018 02-02

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
2/7.................................................................................................................1/31

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-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
二
日

五期星

Second Month, Second Day 
Friday, February 2

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

四德天
相合月

Heavenly Lunarity
Virtuous Linkage
Four Facings

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

中中吉
亥未卯
中凶凶

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
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
行除栽
喪服種

Planting and Cultivating
Discarding Clothing
Mourning Visits

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
七

乙

丑
金
婁
建
Seventeenth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yichou (2/60)

Phase (element): Metal
Constellation: Mound (16/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Establish (1/12)

————

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

宜
出納祭
財采祀
安裁祈
牀衣福
納上會
畜樑友
安開訂
葬倉婚
痕水
陰三土
將喪府

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing

Raising Beams

Opening Granaries

Cash Payments

Positioning Beds

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves

Water Scar

Baleful Astral Influences

Soil Palace
Three Mournings
Yin General

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
丫 州

Bifurcation, Edifice
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

碓
厠 磨

Pestle
Toilet, Mortar