China's Lunar Calendar 2014 12-23

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
12/25..................................................12/22..........Monthly Calendar 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
三
二期星

Twelfth Month, Twenty-Third Day

Astral Period Two
Tuesday, December 23

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天臨時三
恩日陰合

Three Linkages

Timely Yin

Entering Sunlight

Heavenly Kindness

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

吉吉吉

戌午寅
凶凶凶
亥未卯

中吉吉

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

07:00-09:00 In-Between
9:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 Inauspicious
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
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
時裁置買
插衣產田
Buying Land
Setting-up Industry
Planting and Cultivating
Timely Injections

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
二
戊

辰
木

翌
定

Second Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: wuchen (5/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Wings (27/28)

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

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

宜
上裁出祭
樑衣行祀
安理訂祈
牀髮婚福
作修納入
灶造采學
安動嫁會
葬土娶友
不債
木天死下
馬牢氣兀

————
Appropriate Activities 
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Positioning Graves

Debt Not

Baleful Astral Influences

Lower Amputee
Death Vapor
Heavenly Penitentiary
Wood Horse

————

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白
White

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

栖 牀 房

Perch, Bed, Edifice