China's Lunar Calendar 2014 02-28

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT February 28...........................................................................................February 21 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
廿
八
五期星

 Second Month, Twenty-eighth Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, February 28

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

臨天民時
日馬日德

Temporal Virtue
People's Days
Heavenly Horse
Entered Days

—————————————————

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

凶中凶

酉己丑
吉中吉 
戌午寅
凶吉吉

亥未卯

中吉中

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

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

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

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
除動塔結
服土厠綱

Binding Nets
Building Toilets
Moving Sails
Discarding Clothing

—————————————————  

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
九
庚
午
土
牛
定

Twenty-ninth Day (First Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengwu (7/60)

Phase (element): Soil

Constellation: Ox (9/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————————————————— 

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

宜
安裁出祭
門衣行祀
開開訂祈
倉市婚福
納交納入
畜易采學
安上嫁會
葬樑娶友
囊地
陽死白復
將氣虎喪

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Cutting-out Clothing
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Putting-up Beams
Positioning Doors
Opening Granaries
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Earth Bag

Miscellaneous Information

 Repeat Mourning
White Tiger
Death Vapor
Yang General

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

白 火
White, Fire
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information 
(Top to bottom; right to left)
磨 碓 占

Mortar, Pestle, Divination