China's Lunar Calendar 2015 03-15

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/19.................................................................................................................3/11

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
十
五

日期星

Third Month, Fifteenth Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, March 15

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不十歲
將靈德
Generational Virtue
Ten Spirits
Not General

—————————————————

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

凶中凶

戌午寅
凶中吉
亥未卯
中吉吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
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
祈祭結
福祀綱
Binding Nets

Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
五
庚
寅
木

星
閉

Twenty-Fifth Day (First Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengyin (27/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Asterism (25/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Closed (12/12)

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

宜

修修訂
倉造婚
安動裁
牀土衣
作上立
灶樑約
安補交
葬塞易
兀上
游歸血
禍忌支

————

Appropriate Activities

Marriage Engagements

Cutting-out Clothing

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Building

Moving Soil

Putting-up Beams

Plugging Caves

Repairing Granaries

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Positioning Graves

Upper Amputee

Baleful Astral Influences

Blood Branch
Return Taboo
Natatorial Disaster

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
丫 地
Bifurcation, Earth

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

碓

爐 磨

Pestle
Furnace, Mortar