China's Lunar Calendar 2014 06-04

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
 RIGHT 6/9.................................................................................................................6/2 LEFT

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

Sixth Month, Fourth Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, June 4

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars

官合天
日日德
Heavenly Virtue
Linked Days
Official Days

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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
吉吉中

亥未卯

凶中中

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

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

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

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

忌
除苫作
服蓋灶

Stove Work

Thatched Coverings

Discarding Clothing

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 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
七
寅

午
水
參
除

Seventh Day (Fifth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yinwu (43//60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Mixing (Orion) (21/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

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

宜
移納祭
徙采祀
開裁祈
市衣福
動理會
土髮友
上掃訂
樑舍婚
痕水
復重咸
日喪池

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair
Sweeping Rooms
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams

Water Scar

Baleful Astral Influences

Widespread Pond
Doubled Mourning
Repeated Days

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  Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白
White
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Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information 
(right to left)
廚
碓 灶
Kitchen
Pestle, Stove

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