China's Lunar Calendar 2019 03-27

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/28....................................................................................................................3/20

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
廿
七

三期星

Third Month, Twenty-Seventh Day
Wednesday, March 27

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天臨麒
喜日麟
Phoenix
Entering Rays
Heavenly Happiness

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

亥未卯
吉凶吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
21:00-23:00 Auspicious

 ————

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

忌
除嫁詞
服娶訟

Lawsuits and Litigation
Marriage Alliances
Discarding Clothing

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
一
癸
亥

水
壁
成

Twenty-First Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: guihai (60/60)

Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Eastern Wall (13/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

上開祭
樑市祀
安交入
門易學
開修裁
渠造衣
栽動沐
種土浴
日重
元無大
  武祿亡空
 ————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Entering Study
Cutting-out Clothing
Bubbling and Bathing
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Gates
Opening Sluices
Planting and Cultivating

Doubled Days

Baleful Astral Influences

Great Loss-Void
Without Emolument
Primal General

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

人

Person

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

占
牀 房

Divination
Bed, Edifice

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