China's Lunar Calendar 2015 01-08

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
八
日

四期星

First Month, Eighth Day

Astral Period Four
Thursday, January 8

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

陽四歲歲
德相馬德

Generational Virtue
Generational Horse
Four Facings
Yang Virtue

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

吉吉吉

戌午寅
中凶凶
亥未卯
中凶中

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

07:00-09:00 Auspicious
9:00-11:00 Auspicious
11:00-13:00 Inauspicious
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
開安出開
市牀財倉
Opening Granaries
Cash Outflow
Positioning Beds
Opening Markets

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
八
甲
申

水

奎
危

Eighteenth Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiashen (21/60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Astride (15/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

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

宜

作動移祭
灶土徙祀
栽竪理入
種柱髮學
納上掃出
畜樑舍行
安安修裁
葬門造衣
將俱
游五債上
禍離不兀

————
Appropriate Activities 
Venerating Ancestors
Entering Study
Going Out (and about)
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Patterning Hair
Sweeping Rooms
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Erecting Pillars
Putting-up Beams
Positioning Doors
Stove Work
Planting and Cultivating
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Everything General

Baleful Astral Influences

Upper Amputee
Debt Not
Five Separations
Natatorial Calamity

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白 火
White, Fire

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

爐 門 占

Furnace, Gate, Divination