China's Lunar Calendar 2015 06-24

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/28....................................................................................................................6/21

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
廿
四

三期星

Sixth Month, Twenty-Fourth Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, June 24

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

六吉合月
合期日德
Lunar Virtue

Linked Days

Auspicious Time-Slice

Six Linkages

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

凶吉凶

戌午寅
中吉吉
亥未卯
中中吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
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
行除造合
喪服酒醬
Mixing Sauces
Making Liquor
Discarding Clothing
Mourning Visits

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
九
辛
未
土
壁

除
Ninth Day (Fifth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: xinwei (8/60)

Phase (element): Earth

Constellation: Jade Wall (14/28)

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

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

宜

樑開婚祭

修市納祀

倉交采祈

安易嫁福

牀修娶會

作造移友

灶動徙出

安土理行

葬上髮訂

孤勾三上
辰陳喪兀

————
Appropriate Activities
 Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Moving Households
Patterning Hair
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Repairing Granaries
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Positioning Graves

Baleful Astral Influences

Upper Amputee
Three Mournings
Narrative Hook
Orphan Dawn

Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars 
人 林
Person, Copse

————

Section Eight

厠 灶 廚

Toilet, Stove, Kitchen