China's Lunar Calendar 2014 11-20

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
11/21......................................................................................................................11/14

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
二
十

四期星

Eleventh Month, Twentieth Day

Astral Period Four
Thursday, November 20

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天天六歲

喜德合支

Generational Branch
Six Linkages
Heavenly Virtue
Heavenly Happiness

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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

吉中吉

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

07:00-09:00 In-Between
9:00-11:00 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
田捕時栽
獵捉插種
Planting and Cultivating
Timely Injections
Seizing and Apprehending
Heavenly Venery

—————————————————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
八
乙

未
金

井
成

Twenty-Eighth Day (Intercalary Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yiwei (32/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Well (22/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

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

宜
上立訂祭
樑約婚祀
修交納祈
倉易采福
納修裁入
畜造衣學
安動開會
葬土市友
兀下
往招厭四
亡搖對擊

————
Appropriate Activities 
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing

Opening Markets

Setting-up Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Building

Moving Soil

Putting-up Beams

Repairing Granaries

Livestock Payments

Positioning Graves

Lower Amputee

Baleful Astral Influences

Four Fisticuffs
Mutual Repression
Rollicking Braggadocio
Toward Dissolution

————

Section Seven

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

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Information
厠 磨 碓
Toilet, Mortar, Pestle