China's Lunar Calendar 2018 04-04

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: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
4/7..............................................................................................................3/30

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
四
日

三期星

Fourth Month, Fourth Day 
Wednesday, April 4

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不王
將日

Kingly Days
Not General

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

亥未卯
中中吉

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
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
祭作
祀灶

Stove Work
Venerating Ancestors

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
九
丙
寅
火

參
閉

Nineteenth Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingyin (3/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Mix (Orion) (21/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Closed (12/12)

————

***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

上入
樑學
安出
牀行
補訂
塞婚
安動
葬土
短
行
血債
支不

————

Appropriate Activities
Entering Study
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Patching and Plugging
Positioning Graves

Short Star

Baleful Astral Influences

Debt Not
Blood Branch
 
Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars
白 地

White, Earth
———— 

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities
廚
爐 灶 

Kitchen
Furnace, Stove
***Check out the full explanation of today's lunar-solar calendar translation***