China's Lunar Calendar 2014 09-19

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/23.........................................................................  ...........................................9/16

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
九

五期星

Ninth Month, Nineteenth Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, September 19

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不月天天
將恩醫喜

Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician
Lunar Kindness
Not General

—————————————————

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

中吉中

戌午寅
吉中中
亥未卯

凶凶凶

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
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.

————————————————— 

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

忌
成除遠詞
服靈行訟

Lawsuits and Litigation
Distant Journeys
Expelling Spirits
Completing Clothing

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

廿
六
癸

巳

水
婁
成

Twenty-Sixth Day Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: guisi (30/60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Mound (16/28)

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

—————————————————  

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

宜
上開嫁祭
樑市娶祀
修交納祈
倉易采福
安修移入
牀造徙學
納動醫會
畜土病友
日重
朱刀九蛇
 雀砧鬼土口

————
Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Households
Physician Visits
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Repairing Granaries
Positioning Beds
Livestock Payments

Doubled Days

Baleful Astral Influences

Snake Mouth
Nine Ghost-Soils
Sword Anvil
Vermillion Bird
————

  
Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
丫 山
Bifurcation, Mountain
————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Information

牀 房 占

Bed, Edifice, Divination