China's Lunar Calendar 2014 06-12

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/17............................................................................................................................6/10

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
十
二

四星

Sixth Month, Twelfth Day

Astral Period Four
Thursday, June 12

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天母歲歲
喜倉祿德

Generational Virtue
Generational Emolument
Maternal Granary
Heavenly Happiness

—————————————————

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

酉己丑

吉中中
戌午寅
吉凶吉

亥未卯

中吉中

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

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

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

————————————————— 

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

忌
祈祭出開

福祀財倉
Opening Granaries

Capital Outflow

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

—————————————————  

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
五
甲
寅
水
角
成

Fifteenth Day (Fifth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiayin (51/60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Horn (1/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

—————————————————  

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

宜
修修理入
倉造髮學
安動醫會
牀土病友
作上開出
灶樑市行
安醞交訂
葬釀易婚
星長
陽白歸八

將虎忌專

Appropriate Activities
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Patterning Hair
Physician Treatments
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil 
Putting-up Beams
Fermenting Liquor
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Positioning Graves
Repairing Granaries

Long Star

Baleful Astral Influences

Eight Specializations

Return Taboo

White Tiger

Yang General

————

  Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
丫 水
Bifurcation, Water
————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Information

爐 門 占
Furnace, Gate, Divination