China's Lunar Calendar 2015 05-14

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/17.....................................................................................................................5/10

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
十
四

四期星

Fourth Month, Fourteenth Day

Astral Period Four
Thursday, May 14

———————————————— 

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

母月歲
倉德德

Generational Virtue

Lunar Virtue

Maternal Granary

—————————————————

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

中中凶

戌午寅
凶中吉
亥未卯
凶吉吉

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 In-Between
19:00-21:00 Inauspicious
21:00-23:00 Inauspicious

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

—————————————————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
六
庚
寅
木

角
收

Twenty-Sixth Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengyin (27/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Horn (1/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Receive (10/12)

—————————————————  

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

宜

捕嫁會
捉娶友
納裁出
畜衣行
成移訂
服徙婚
安上納
葬裁采
不債
俱上水
將符痕

————
Appropriate Activities
Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Marriage Engagements

Grain Payments

Marriage Alliances

Cutting-out Clothing

Moving Households

Raising Beams

Seizing and Capturing

Livestock Payments

Completing Clothing

Positioning Graves

Debt Not

Baleful Astral Influences

Water Scar

Earth Charm

Everything General

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
丫 鬼
Bifurcation, Ghost

————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

碓
爐 磨

Pestle

Furnace, Mortar