China's Lunar Calendar 2018 03-22

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

***Check out the full explanation of today's lunar-solar calendar translation*** 
⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/29..............................................................................................................3/22

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.

                                   ***Check out the full explanation of today's lunar-solar calendar translation*** 

Section One

Solar Calendar Date
廿
二

四期星

Third Month, Twenty-Second Day 
Thursday, March 22

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

生時合歲
氣陽日德

Generational Virtue
Linked Days
Timely Yang
Engendered Vapor

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

亥未卯
中凶吉

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
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
進新動詞
水船土訟

Lawsuits and Litigation
Moving Soil
New Boats
Entering Water

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
六
癸

丑
木

斗
開

Sixth Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: guichou (50/60)

Phase (element): Wood
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Northern Ladle (8/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

***Check out the full explanation of today's lunar-solar calendar translation*** 

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)

宜

上理出祭
樑髮行祀
安醫訂祈
牀病婚福
作修裁入
灶造衣學
納建移會
畜屋徙友
囊地
勾五八觸
     陳虛專龍水    

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Patterning Hair
Physician Treatments
Repairing and Constructing
Establishing Rooms
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Livestock Payments

Earth Duffel

 Baleful Astral Influences

Stirring-up Dragon Water
Eight Specialties
Five Voids
Narrative Hook
 
Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars
丫 林

Bifurcation, Copse
———— 

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities
厠 牀 房

Toilet, Bed, Edifice
***Check out the full explanation of today's lunar-solar calendar translation***