China's Lunar Calendar 2013 12-04

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT December 6..............................December 3.......................Monthly Information 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) 
四
日
三期星

  Twelfth Month, Fourth Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, December 4

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

(top to bottom, right to left)

陽解月
德神德

Lunar Virtue
Releasing Spirits
Yang Virtue

—————————————————

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

中吉吉

酉己丑

吉凶吉
戌午寅

凶凶吉

亥未卯

凶吉中

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
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

動出開
土財倉

Opening Granaries
Capital Outflow
Moving Soil

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
二
甲
辰
火
箕
致

Second Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiachen (41/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Winnowing Basket (7/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)

————————————————— 

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

宜

上納祭
樑采祀
安移祈
牀徙福
捕理會
捉髮友
安醫嫁
葬病娶
符土
陰小債
將耗不

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Households
Patterning Hair
Physician Visits
Putting-up Beams
Positioning Beds
Seizing and Capturing
Positioning Graves

Soil Charm

Miscellaneous Information  

Debt Not
Small Squander
Yin General

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

白 水
White, Water
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

(Top to bottom; right to left)

門
栖 碓

Gate
Perch, Pestle