China's Lunar Calendar 2019 04-04

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
4/4....................................................................................................................3/29

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
四
月

四期星

Fourth Month, Fourth Day
Thursday, April 4

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Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

陰三續麒
德合世麟
Unicorn
Continued Generations
Three Linkages
Yin Exemplarity

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

亥未卯
中中吉

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

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

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

 ————

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

忌
成除造合
服靈酒醬

Mixing Sauces
Making Liquor
Exorcising Spirits
Completing Clothing

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
九
辛
未

土
井
定

Twenty-Ninth Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: xinwei (8/60)

Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Well (22/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

上開出祭
樑市行祀
作交嫁祈
灶易取福
納修納入
畜造采學
安動移會
葬土徙友
氣死
俱復血大
 將喪忌亡空
 ————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune

Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Stove Work

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves

Death Vapor
 
Baleful Astral Influences

Great Loss-Void
Blood Taboo
Repeat Mourning
Everything General

Section Seven
白 人

White, Person

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

厠 灶 廚

Toilet, Stove, Kitchen

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