China's Lunar Calendar 2015 09-29

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/5...................................................................................................................9/27

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
九

二期星

Ninth Month, Twenty-Ninth Day

Astral Period Two
Tuesday, September 29

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不王天
將日赦
Heavenly Amnesty
Kingly Days
Not General

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

中吉凶
戌午寅
中中凶

亥未卯
中吉凶

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
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
安置買
牀業田
Buying Land
Setting-up Industry
Positioning Beds

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
七
戊
申
土
軫
閉
Seventeenth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: wushen (45/60)

Phase (element): Earth

Constellation: Wings (27/28)

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

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

宜
補掃祭
塞舍祀
栽立嫁
種約娶
納交裁
畜易衣
安修理
葬倉髮
痕水
白血五
虎支離

————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Marriage Alliances 
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair
Sweeping Rooms
Setting-up Appointments
Trade and Commerce
Repairing Granaries
Patching and Plugging
Planting and Cultivating
Livestock Payments
Positioning Beds

Water Scar

Baleful Astral Influences
Five Separations
Blood Branch
White Tiger

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

丫 水
Bifurcation, Water

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Section Eight

Miscellaneous

房

爐 牀

Edifice
Furnace, Bed