China's Lunar Calendar 2013 10-19

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT October 25..................................................................................................October 18 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
九
六期星

  Tenth Month, Nineteenth Day

Astral Period Six
Saturday, October 19

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

(top to bottom, right to left)

不十天歲
將靈喜德

Generational Virtue
Heavenly Happiness
Ten Spirits
Not General

—————————————————

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

吉凶凶

酉己丑

吉吉中

戌午寅

中中凶

亥未卯

凶吉吉

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

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

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

塔苫置買
厠蓋業田

Buying Land
Setting-up Industry
Thatching Roofs 
Building Toilets

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
五
戊
午
火
胃

成

Fifteenth Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: wuwu (55/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Stomach (17/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————————————————— 

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

宜
上開納入

樑市采學

安交嫁會

牀易娶友

作修移出

灶造徙行

納動醫訂

畜土病婚

喪復

 天復四班
刑日耗煞

Appropriate Activities  

Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Moving Residences
Doctor Visits
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Erecting Beams
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Livestock Payments

Return Mourning

Miscellaneous Information  

Classified Balefulness
Four Squanders
Repeated Days
Heavenly Punishment

————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

丫 水
Bifurcation, Water
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)
碓 牀 房

Pestle, Bed, House