China's Lunar Calendar 2018 03-07

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/8.....................................................................................................................3/1

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
七
日

三期星

Third Month, Seventh Day 
Wednesday, March 7

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

金六歲
堂合德

Generational Virtue
Six Linkages
Golden Hall

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

中吉凶
亥未卯
中吉吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
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
補置買
塞業田

Buying Land
Setting-up Industry
Plugging and Patching

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information

二
十
戊

戌

木
參
危

Twentieth Day (First Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: wuxu (35/60)

Phase (element): Wood
Constellation: Gathering (21/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)

宜

安立訂
牀約婚
作交納
灶易采
掃修裁
舎造衣
安動合
門土帳
將陰
月四無
煞擊祿

————

Appropriate Activities
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Binding Sails
Making Appointments
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Sweeping Rooms
Positioning Gates

Yin General

Baleful Astral Influences

Without Emolument
Four Fisticuffs
Lunar Balefulness

 
Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars
人

Person
———— 

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities

房

栖 牀

Edifice
Perch, Bed