China's Lunar Calendar 2018 03-24

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
四

五期星

Third Month, Twenty-Fourth Day 
Saturday, March 24

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

五王月
富日德

Generational Branch
Virtuous Days

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

亥未卯
吉吉吉

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 Inauspicious
11:00-13:00 In-Between
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
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
穿栽
井種

Planting and Cultivating
Boring Wells

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
八
乙

卯
水
女
建

Eighth Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yimao (52/60)

Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Weaving Maiden (10/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Establish (1/12)

————

***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

裁祭
衣祀
立會
約友
交出
易行
納納
畜采
兔
口
重土
喪府

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Setting-up Appointments
Trade and Commerce
Livestock Payments

Rabbit Mouth

 Baleful Astral Influences

Soil Palace
Repeat Mourning
 
Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars
白 神

White, Spirit
———— 

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities
碓
門 磨 

Pestle
Gate, Mortar
***Check out the full explanation of today's lunar-solar calendar translation***