China's Lunar Calendar 2014 09-25

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/28.................................................9/24......................Monthly Information

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
五

四期星

Ninth Month, Twenty-Fifth Day

Astral Period Four
Thursday, September 25

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

合歲
日德

Generational Virtue
Linked Days

—————————————————

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
中吉吉
亥未卯

凶吉凶

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

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

15:00-17:00  Auspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
19:00-21:00 In-Between
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
成嫁
服娶
Marriage Alliances
Putting-together Clothing

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

初
二
己

亥

木
井
滿

Second Day Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jihai (36/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Well (22/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)

—————————————————  

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

宜
開會
市友
動出
土行
上裁
樑衣
補移
塞徙
俱

將
小重
亡空日 

————
Appropriate Activities

Meeting Friends 
Going Out (and about)
Patterning Clothing
Moving Households
Opening Markets
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Patching and Plugging

Everything General

Baleful Astral Influences

Doubled Days
Small Loss-Void
————

  
Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白
White
————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Information

占

牀 門

Edifice

Perch, Bed