China's Lunar Calendar 2014 09-23

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
三

二期星

Ninth Month, Twenty-Third Day

Astral Period Two
Tuesday, September 23

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十玉官
靈堂日

Official Days

Jade Hall

Ten Spirits

—————————————————

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

吉中吉

戌午寅
中吉中
亥未卯

吉吉凶

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

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

15:00-17:00  In-Between
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
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
動整理
土甲髮
Patterning Hair
Trimming Nails
Moving Soil

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

三
十
丁

酉

火
觜
建

Thirtieth Day Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dingyou (34/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Beak of the Turtle (20/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Establish (1/12)

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

分秋
廿十己
九時正
      分              
宜
啟掃祭
攢舍祀
安伐沐
葬木浴
聲收始雷
月土水
刑府痕

————
Autumn Equinox
Begins at the ji hour; 10:29 AM

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Bubbling and Bathing
Sweeping Rooms
Felling Timber
Starting Savings
Positioning Graves

Thunder Begins to Pipe Down

Baleful Astral Influences

Water Scar
Earth Palace
Lunar Punishment
————

  
Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白 州
White, Landmass
————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Information

門

庫 倉

Gate
Storehouse, Granary