China's Lunar Calendar 2013 04-01

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT April 3 ..................................March 31.......Monthly Calendar 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
一四
日月

二期星

Fourth Month, First Day

Astral Period Two
Tuesday, April 1

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十王歲
靈日祿

Generational Emolument
Kingly Days
Ten Spirits

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

凶中凶

酉己丑
凶中吉
戌午寅
吉中吉

亥未卯

中吉吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
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.

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Section Four 
Activities to Avoid  
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

忌
祭放開
祀水渠

Opening Sluices
Putting-into Water
Venerating Ancestors

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 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
二
壬
寅
金
室
閉

Second Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renyin (39/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Pyre (13/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Closed (12/12)

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

宜
醞上裁
釀樑衣
栽補築
種塞堤
成安修
服門造
安安動
葬牀土
忌歸
血債上
支不兀

Appropriate Activities

Cutting-out Clothing
Building Dikes
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Patching and Plugging
Positioning Gates
Positioning Beds
Fermenting Beverages
Planting and Cultivating
Putting-together Clothing
Positioning Graves

Return Taboo

Miscellaneous Information

Upper Amputee
Debt Not
Blood Branch

————

 Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白 地
White, Earth
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information 
(Top to bottom; right to left)
倉
爐 庫

Granary
Furnace, Storehouse