China's Lunar Calendar 2014 09-27

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
七

六期星

Ninth Month, Twenty-Seventh Day

Astral Period Six
Saturday, September 27

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

金三母
堂合倉

Lunar Virtue
Temporal Virtue

—————————————————

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

凶吉吉

戌午寅
中吉吉
亥未卯

吉凶凶

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
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
成造合
服酒醬
Mixing Sauces
Making Liquor
Completing Clothing

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

初
四
辛

丑

土
柳
定

Fourth Day Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: xinchou (38/60)

Phase (element): Soil

Constellation: Willow (24/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

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

宜
作入會
灶宅友
入安出
倉門行
修安理
倉牀髮
納修移
畜廚徙
星長
復重下
日喪兀

————
Appropriate Activities

Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Patterning Hair
Moving Households
Staying Home
Positioning Doors
Positioning Beds
Repairing Kitchens
Stove Work
Entering Granaries
Repairing Granaries
Livestock Payments

Long Star

Baleful Astral Influences

Lower Amputee
Repeat Mourning
Repeated Days
————

  
Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
丫 林
Bifurcation, Copse
————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Information

廚

厠 灶

Kitchen
Toilet, Stove