China's Lunar Calendar 2014 10-06

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/6........................................................................................................................9/29

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
六
日

一期星

Tenth Month, Sixth Day

Astral Period One
Monday, October 6

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

(top to bottom, right to left)

天十吉月
恩靈期德

Lunar Virtue

Auspicious Temporal-slice

Ten Spirits

Heavenly Kindness

—————————————————

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

中中吉

戌午寅
凶吉中
亥未卯

中吉凶

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 Inauspicious
09:00-11:00 In-Between
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 Inauspicious
21:00-23:00 In-Between

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
行除除結
喪服靈綱
Binding Nets
Expelling Spirits
Discarding Clothing
Mourning Visits

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

十
三
庚

戌

金
心
除

Thirteenth Day Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengxu (47/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Heart-Mind (5/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

—————————————————  

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

宜
上理訂祭
樑髮婚祀
修掃納祈
倉舍采福
納修嫁會
畜造娶友
安動移出
葬土徙行
將俱
血三月犬
忌喪害口

————
Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Marriage Alliances

Moving Households

Patterning Hair

Sweeping Rooms

Repairing and Building

Moving Soil

Putting-up Beams

Repairing Granaries

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves

Everything General

Baleful Astral Influences

Canine Mouth
Lunar Harm
Three Mournings 
Blood Taboo
————

  
Section Seven

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

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Information

栖 磨 碓

Perch, Mortar, Pestle