China's Lunar Calendar 2013 04-20

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT April 23.............................................................................April 15 RIGHT

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)  
二
十

六期星

Fourth month, twentieth day

Astral Period Six

Saturday, April 20

———————————————— 
Section Two

Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)

十四
靈相

Four Facings
Ten Spirits

—————————————————

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

吉凶中

酉己丑

吉吉中

戌午寅

凶中中

亥未卯

凶中中

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

07:00-09:00 Inauspicious
09:00-11:00 Auspicious
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

動作
土灶

Stove Work
Moving Soil

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
一

丙

辰

土

氐

建

Eleventh Day (third lunar month)

Cyclical day: bingchen (53/60)

Phase (element): Earth

Constellation: Clan (3/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Establish (1/12)

————————————————— 

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

_____________________
 穀
雨
零卯
三正
分六
    時
_____________________

 宜
垣飾
_____________________
 萍
始
生
_____________________
 三債
喪不

CORN RAIN
(the sixth of twenty-four, fifteen-day periods in the solar year; 
begins in the mao hour at 6:03 a.m.) 

Appropriate Activities
Ornamenting Embankments 

FLOATING WEEDS APPEAR
(the sixteenth of seventy-two five-day micro-periods in the solar calendar) 

Miscellaneous Information

Debt Not
Three Mournings

 ————————————————— 

 Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(right to left)
人 鬼
Person, Ghost

————————————————— 

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities

(Top to bottom; right to left) 

廚
栖 灶
Kitchen

Perch, Stove