China's Lunar Calendar 2014 03-05

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT March 5..........................................March 1.............................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
五

日
三期星

Third Month, Fifth Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, March 5

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

母德歲
倉日支

Generational Branch
Virtuous Days
Maternal Granary

—————————————————

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

凶中凶

酉己丑
中凶吉
戌午寅
中中吉

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
19:00-21:00 In-Between
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
成嫁栽
服娶種

Planting and Cultivating
Marriage Alliances
Completing Clothing

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 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
五

乙
亥
火
壁
收

Fifth Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yihai (12/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Wall (14/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Receive (10/12)

————————————————— 

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

宜
動納祭
土采祀
上裁祈
樑衣福
作移會
灶徙友
醞開出
釀市行
日重 
月劫下
忌煞兀

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Opening Markets
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Stove Work
Fermenting Beverages

Doubled Days

Miscellaneous Information

 Lower Amputee
Plundered Balefulness
Lunar Repression

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

丫 州
Bifurcation, Landmass
————

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

Pestle
Bed, Mortar