China's Lunar Calendar 2014 09-06

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/6.........................................................................  ...........................................8/30

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
六
日

六期星

Ninth Month, Sixth Day

Astral Period Six
Saturday, September 6

———————————————— 
Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天天天母
恩醫喜倉

Maternal Granary
Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician
Heavenly Kindness

—————————————————

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
中吉凶
酉己丑

中吉吉

戌午寅
凶吉凶
亥未卯

吉吉中

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

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

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

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
行成除結
喪服靈綱

Binding Nets
Expelling Spirits
Completing Clothing
Mourning Visits

—————————————————  
 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
三

庚

辰

金
氐
成

Thirteenth Day Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengchen (17/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Foundation (3/28)

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

—————————————————  

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

宜

安交納祭
牀易采祀
作修醫祈
灶造病服
開動開會
渠土市友
人上立訂
倉樑約婚
喪重
復血月無
日忌厭祿

————
Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Physician Visits

Opening Markets

Setting-up Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Building

Moving Soil

Putting-up Beams

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Opening Sluices

Peopled Granaries
Repeat Mourning

Baleful Astral Influences

Without Emolument
Lunar Repression
Blood Taboo
Doubled Days

————
  
Section Seven

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

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Information

栖 磨 碓

Perch, Mortar Pestle