China's Lunar Calendar 2015 02-20

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
2/21...................................................2/19...........................Monthly 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
二
十

五期星

Second Month, Twentieth Day

Astral Period Four
Friday, February 20

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不四天歲
將相德祿

Generational Emolument
Heavenly Virtue
Four Facings
Not General

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

凶中凶

戌午寅
中吉吉
亥未卯
吉吉凶

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
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
田開穿理
獵池井髮
Patterning Hair
Boring Wells
Opening Ponds
Field Venery

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
二
丁
卯
火

亢
除

Second Day (First Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dingmao (4/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Neck (2/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

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

宜
修醫訂祭
倉病婚祀
安修納祈
牀造采福
納動嫁會
畜土娶友
安上移出
葬樑徙行
不債
朱大咸小
 雀敗池亡空

————
Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Moving Households
Physician Visits
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Putting-up Beams
Repairing Granaries
Positioning Beds
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Debt Not

Baleful Astral Influences

Small Loss-Void
Widespread Pond
Great Defeat
Vermilion Bird

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left) 
白 林
White, Copse

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

庫 倉 門

Storehouse, Granary, Gate