China's Lunar Calendar 2013 09-11

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT September 17........................................................................................September 9 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) 
十
一
三期星

  Ninth Month, Eleventh Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, September 11

———————————————— 
Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

六天母月
合貴倉德

Lunar Virtue
Maternal Granary
Heavenly Preciousness
Six Linkages

—————————————————

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

中吉凶

酉己丑

中吉吉

戌午寅

凶吉吉

亥未卯

凶吉凶

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 In-Between
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

進新結經
水船綱絡

Energy Channels
Binding Nets
New Boats
Entering Water

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
七
庚
辰
金
箕
危

Seventh Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengchen (17/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Winnowing Basket (7/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————————————————— 

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

宜

上開嫁祭
樑市娶祀
安交納祈
牀易采福
作修移會
灶造徙友
安動理出
葬土髮行
痕水
陰天月月
將刑虛煞

Appropriate Activities  

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Erecting Beams
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Positioning Graves

Water Scar

Miscellaneous Information

Lunar Balefulness
Lunar Vacancy
Heavenly Punishment
Yin General

————  

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

白 火
White, Fire

—————————————————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)
栖 磨 碓

Perch, Mortar, Pestle