China's Lunar Calendar 2015 02-05

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
2/9..............................................................................................................................2/2

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
五
日

四期星

Second Month, Fifth Day

Astral Period Four
Thursday, February 5

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

德歲合天
日支日德

Heavenly Virtue
Linked Days
Generational Branch
Virtuous Days

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

中吉凶

戌午寅
中凶吉
亥未卯
中吉吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
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
進新放開
水船水渠
Opening Sluices
Putting-into Water
New Boats
Entering Water

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
七
壬
子
木

奎
開

Seventeenth Day (Twelfth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renzi (49/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Astride (15/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

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

宜
動裁出祭
土衣行祀
上移訂祈
樑徙婚福
置開納入
產市采學
納修嫁會
畜造娶友
兀上
陰灾班水
將煞煞痕

————
Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Opening Markets
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Setting-up Production
Livestock Payments

Upper Amputee

Baleful Astral Influences

Water Scar
Classified Balefulness
Disastrous Balefulness
Yin General

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
丫
Bifurcation

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

碓 庫 倉

Pestle, Storehouse, Granary