China's Lunar Calendar 2018 12-30

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/5/19.......................................................1/1/19.....................................12/29

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.

Section One

Solar Calendar Date
三
十

日期星

Twelfth Month, Thirtieth Day  
Sunday, December 30

————
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

月天母歲
空喜倉馬 
Generational Equinity
Maternal Granary
Heavenly Happiness
Lunar Void

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
吉凶吉
酉巳丑
吉吉吉
戌午寅
吉凶凶

亥未卯
吉吉中

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

07:00-09:00 Inauspicious
9:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 Inauspicious
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
21:00-23:00 Auspicious

 ————

Section Four 
Activities to Avoid  
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

忌
動安作修
土牀灶廚

Repairing and Cultivating
Stove Work
Positioning Beds
Moving Soil

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
四
丙
申
火
虛
成

Twenty-Fourth Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: bingshen (33/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Void (11/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)

宜

醞醫納入
釀病采學
納開嫁會
畜市娶友
成交移出
服易徙行
安上理訂
葬樑髮婚
符土
俱無密上
將祿日兀

 ————

Appropriate Activities
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Physician Visits
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Raising Beams
Fermenting Beverages
Livestock Payments
Completing Clothing
Positioning Beds

Soil Charm

Baleful Asterisms

Upper Amputee
Mysterious Days
Without Emolument
Everything General

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白 地

White, Earth

 ————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

爐 灶 廚

Furnace, Stove, Kitchen