China's Lunar Calendar 2018 02-23

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
三

五期星

Second Month, Twenty-Third Day 
Friday, February 23

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

月天月麒
恩喜德麟

Phoenix
Lunar Virtue
Heavenly Happiness
Lunar Kindness

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

吉中吉
亥未卯
吉中吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
21:00-23:00 Auspicious

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
田移作修
獵徙灶廚

Kitchen Repairs
Stove Work
Moving Residences
Field Venery

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
八

丙

戌

土
牛

成

Eighth Day (First Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingxu (23/60)

Phase (element): Soil
Constellation: Ox (9/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (9/12)

————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information  
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
出修友祭
貨造裁祀
財動衣祈
醞土開福
釀 上市求
納梁立嗣
畜修約入
安開交學
葬倉易會 

大地月四
煞火厭擊

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune

Seeking Inheritance

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Cutting-out Clothing

Opening Markets

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Opening Granaries

Exporting Commodities

Fermenting Beverages

Raising Livestock

Positioning Graves

Baleful Astral Influences

Four Fisticuffs
Lunar Repression
Earthly Fire
Great Balefulness

 
Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars
人 水

Person, Water
———— 

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities

栖 灶 廚

Perch, Stove, Kitchen