China's Lunar Calendar 2019 03-17

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/19....................................................................................................................3/12

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
十
七

日期星

Third Month, Seventeenth Day
Sunday, March 17

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天生時敬
恩氣陽安
Reverential Calm
Timely Yang
Engendered Vapor
Heavenly Kindness

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

亥未卯
中凶吉

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

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

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

 ————

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

忌
塞補動詞
穴垣土訟

Lawsuits and Litigation
Moving Soil
Patching Embankments
Plugging Caves

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
一
癸

丑
木
房
開

Eleventh Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: guichou (50/60)

Phase (element): Wood
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Edifice (4/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

上理出祭
樑髮行祀
安醫訂祈
牀病婚福
作修裁入
灶造衣學
納建移會
畜屋徙友
囊地
五寡密楊
虛宿日忌
 ————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair
Physician Treatments
Repairing and Constructing
Establishing Rooms
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Livestock Payments

Earth Duffel (Dirt Bag)

Baleful Asterisms

Poplar Taboo
Mysterious Days
Orphan Hostel
Five Voids

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白 林

White, Copse

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

厠 牀 房

Toilet, Bed, Edifice

————