China's Lunar Calendar 2018 03-28

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
八

三期星

Third Month, Twenty-Eighth Day 
Wednesday, March 28

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

陰合月麒
德日德麟

Unicorn
Lunar Virtue
Linked Days
Yin Virtue

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

亥未卯
凶吉吉

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

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

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
取田穿針
魚獵耳灸

Acupuncture and Moxibustion
Boring Ears
Field Venery
Garnering Piscinity

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
二
己

未
火
壁
定

Twelfth Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiwei (56/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Jade Wall (14/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

***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

灶修婚祭
修造裁祀
倉動衣祈
栽土移福
種上徙會
成樑開友
服安市出
安牀交行
葬作易訂

陽血死八
將忌氣專

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Repairing Granaries
Planting and Cultivating
Completing Clothing
Positioning Graves

 Baleful Astral Influences

Eight Specialties
Death Vapor
Blood Taboo
Yang General
 
Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars
白 人

White, Person
———— 

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities
厠 門 占

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