China's Lunar Calendar 2018 04-11

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: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
4/15..............................................................................................................4/8

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
十
一

三期星

Fourth Month, Eleventh Day 
Wednesday, April 11

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

六合歲
合日德

Generational Virtue
Linked Days
Six Linkages

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

亥未卯
中凶凶

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

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 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
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.
                             —————————————————

***Check out the full explanation of today's lunar-solar calendar translation*** 
Section Four 
Activities to Avoid  
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

忌
動修詞
土倉訟

Lawsuits and Litigation
Repairing Granaries
Moving Soil

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
六
癸
酉
金

軫
執

Twenty-Sixth Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: guiyou (10/60)

Phase (element): Metal
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Running Board (28/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)

————

***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

安裁祭
門衣祀
安理祈
牀髮福
捕醫訂
捉病婚
安建嫁
葬屋娶
符土
咸五雞
池虛口

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Marriage Engagements

Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing

Cutting-out Clothing

Physician Treatments

Establishing Rooms

Positioning Gates

Positioning Beds

Seizing and Capturing

Positioning Graves
 
Soil Charm

Baleful Astral Influences

Fowl Mouth
Five Vacancies
Widespread Pond
 
Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars
丫

Bifurcation
———— 

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities
房
門 牀

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