China's Lunar Calendar 2018 02-21

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
2/28.....................................................................................................................2/20

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
廿
一

三期星

Second Month, Twenty-First Day 
Wednesday, February 21

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

解歲
神馬

Generational Horse
Unleashing Spirits

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

中凶凶
亥未卯
中吉中

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

07:00-09:00 Inauspicious
9:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 Inauspicious
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
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
安開
牀倉

Opening Granaries
Positioning Beds

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
六

甲

申

水

箕
破

Sixth Day (First Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiashen (21/60)

Phase (element): Water
Constellation: Tail (7/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Destroy (7/12)

————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information  
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
祭
祀
沐
浴
治
病
破
屋
重月
喪破
復下
日兀

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Bubbling and Bathing
Treating Illness
Destroying Rooms

Baleful Astral Influences

Lunar Destruction
Lower Amputee
Repeat Mourning
Returning Days

 
Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars
白 鬼

White, Ghost
———— 

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities

占
爐 門

Divination
Furnace, Gate