China's Lunar Calendar 2015 01-09

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
1/10..........................................................................................................................1/3

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
九
日

五期星

First Month, Ninth Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, January 9

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天天德天
醫喜合月

Heavenly Lunarity
Virtuous Linkage
Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician

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

吉凶吉

戌午寅
中中吉
亥未卯
中凶凶

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
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
取田時栽
魚獵插種
Planting and Cultivating 
Timely Injections
Field Venery
Garnering Fish

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
九
乙
酉

水

婁
成

Nineteenth Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yiyou (22/60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Tower (16/28)

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

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

宜

上醫嫁祭
樑病娶祀
納開納祈
畜市采福
成修移入
服造徙學
安動理出
葬土髮行
煞班
四俱勾五
祥不將陳離  

————
Appropriate Activities 
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Households
Patterning Hair
Physician Visits
Opening Markets
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Livestock Payments
Completing Clothing
Positioning Graves

Classified Balefulness

Baleful Astral Influences

Five Separations
Narrative Hook
Everything General 
Four Not-Fortunes

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白 山
White, Mountain

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

門 磨 碓

Gate, Mortar, Pestle