China's Lunar Calendar 2013 04-09

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

From right to left: 

LEFT April 9............................................April 2 RIGHT

2-9 April 2013

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 calendar, along with basic translation and minimal interpretation. Unless you have been studying lunar 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.

Section One
Solar Calendar Date
(top to bottom; right to left)  
九
日

二期星

Fourth month, ninth day

Astral Period Two

Tuesday, April 9

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Section Two

Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)

陰明相

德堂日
Facing Days

Hall of Luminosity

Yin Virtue

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Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子

吉中吉

酉己丑

吉凶吉

戌午寅

凶中中

亥未卯

凶中中

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

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

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

The hours above are for Hong Kong. It is up to you if you want to recalibrate or to assume that the cyclicality of the calendar "covers" the rest of the world. This is a greater interpretive challenge than you might think.

————————————————— 

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

忌

除遠栽

服行種

Planting Crops

Long Journeys

Discarding Clothing

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
九

乙

巳

火
觜

除

Twenty-ninth Day (second lunar month)

Cyclical day: yisi (42/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Beak of the Turtle (20/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————————————————— 

Section Six
Appropriate Activities 
(and Miscellaneous Information)
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

 宜

安入沐

門宅浴

作開理

灶市髮

放入掃

水倉舍

搭上移

厠樑徙

日重

陽五無

將虛祿

Appropriate Activities

Bathing

Patterning Hair

Sweeping Rooms

Moving Residences

Staying at Home

Opening Markets

Entering Granaries

Erecting Beams

Positioning Doors

Stove Work

Going-into Water

Putting-up Outhouses  

Repeated Days

Miscellaneous Information
Without Emolument

Five Vacancies

Yang General

 ————————————————— 

 Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(right to left)
白 人
White, Person

————————————————— 

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities

(Top to bottom; right to left) 
碓

牀 磨
Pestle

Bed, Mortar