China's Lunar Calendar 2019 05-23

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/25...............................................................................................................5/18

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
三

四期星

Fifth Month, Twenty-Third Day
Thursday, May 23

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

五續月
富世德
Lunar Exemplarity

Continuing Generations

Five Abundances

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

亥未卯
凶吉中

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

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

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

 ————

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

忌
針安結
灸牀網

Binding Nets
Positioning Beds
Acupuncture and Moxibustion

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
九
庚
申
木
奎
平

Nineteenth Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengshen (57/60)

Phase (element): Wood
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Astride (15/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Level (4/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

上理会
梁髮友
作开出
灶市行
成修裁
服造衣
安动移
葬土徙
虛五
河血月
魁忌刑
 ————

Appropriate Activities*
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Cutting-out Clothing (Tailoring)
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair
Opening Markets
Repairing and Cultivating
Moving Soil 
Raising Beams
Stove Work
Completing Clothing
Positioning Graves
*Many of the Chinese characters in these phrases are 
in simplified form, a very large change from the usual format.

Five Voids

Baleful Astral Influences

Lunar Punishments
Blood Taboo
River Stalwart

Section Seven
白 天

White, Heaven

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

碓
爐 磨

Pestle
Furnace, Mortar