China's Lunar Calendar 2014 09-21

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
廿
一

日期星

Ninth Month, Twenty-First Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, September 21

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

(top to bottom, right to left)

生六歲
氣合支

Generational Branch
Six Linkages
Engendered Vapor

—————————————————

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

中凶凶

戌午寅
吉中吉
亥未卯

吉中凶

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

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

15:00-17:00  Auspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
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
除動栽
服土種

Planting and Cultivating
Moving Soil
Discarding Clothing

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

廿
八
乙

未

金
昂
開

Twenty-Eighth Day Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yiwei (32/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Pleiades (18/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

—————————————————  

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

宜
開出祭
市行祀
上嫁祈
樑娶福
牧納入
養采學
納移會
畜徙友
喪復
九土密
空符日

————
Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Putting-up Beams
Raising Livestock
Livestock Payments

Repeat Mounring

Baleful Astral Influences

Mysterious Days
Earth Charm
Nine Voids
————

  
Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
丫 人
Bifurcation, Person
————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Information

碓

厠 磨

Pestle
Toilet, Mortar