China's Lunar Calendar 2019 04-30

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/4.............................................................................................................4/26

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

二期星

Fourth Month, Thirtieth Day
Tuesday, April 30

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不十德天
將靈合月
Heavenly Lunarity
Exemplary Linkage
Ten Spirits
Not General

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

亥未卯
吉吉凶

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

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

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

 ————

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

忌
補栽整理
塞種甲髮

Patterning Hair
Trimming Nails
Planting and Cultivating
Patching and Plugging

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
六
丁
酉
火
觜
執

Twenty-Sixth Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dingyou (34/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Beak of the Turtle (20/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

醞立納祭
釀約采祀
安交嫁祈
牀易娶福
捕上裁出
捉樑衣行
安開移訂
葬倉徙婚
符土
咸小五五
池耗虛離
 ————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing

Moving Residences

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Raising Beams

Opening Granaries

Fermenting Beverages

Positioning Beds

Seizing and Capturing

Positioning Graves

Soil Charm

 
Baleful Astral Influences

Five Separations
Five Voids
Small Squander
Widespread Pond

Section Seven
丫

Bifurcation

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

庫 倉 門

Storehouse, Granary, Gate