China's Lunar Calendar 2015 11-02

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
11/3.......................................................................................................10/26

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
二
日

一期星

Eleventh Month, Second Day

Astral Period One
Monday, November 2

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天天六歲
醫喜合支

Generational Branch
Six Linkages
Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician

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

戌午寅
中中吉

亥未卯
吉吉吉

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

07:00-09:00 Inauspicious
9:00-11:00 Auspicious
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 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
塔苫放開
廁蓋水渠
Opening Sluices
Putting-into Water
Thatched Coverings
Erecting Toilets  

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Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿

一
壬
午
木
心
成
Twenty-First Day Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renwu (19/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Heart-Mind (5/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

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

宜
樑開行祭
安市嫁祀
牀交娶祈
作易納福
灶修采入
成造裁學
服動衣會
安土移友
葬上徙出

天班刀
刑煞砧

————
Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Households
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Completing Clothing
Positioning Graves    

Baleful Astral Influences

Sword Anvil
Classified Balefulness
Heavenly Punishment 

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

人 水

Person, Water
————

Section Eight

Miscellaneous

碓 庫 倉

Pestle, Storehouse, Granary