China's Lunar Calendar 2016 05-09

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/10....................................................5/7........................................Monthly Information

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
九
日

一期星

Fifth Month, Ninth Day

Astral Period One
Monday, May 9

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天生合歲
德氣日德

Generational Virtue
Linked Days
Engendered Vapor
Heavenly Virtue

————

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

戌午寅
吉吉凶
亥未卯
凶中吉

23:00-01:00 In-Between
01:00-03:00 In-Between
03:00-05:00 Inauspicious
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 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
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
開穿造合
池井酒醬
Mixing Sauces
Making Liquor
Boring Wells
Opening Ponds

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
三
辛
卯
木
張
開
Third Day Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: xinmao (28/60)

Phase (element): Wood
Constellation: Drawn Bow (26/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

Section Six
Appropriate Activities
and Miscellaneous Information  
(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜
動移出祭
土徙行祀
上理訂祈
樑髮婚福
修開納入
倉市采學
置交嫁會
產易娶友
痕水
俱天班下
將火煞兀

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Moving Households
Patterning Hair
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Repairing Granaries
Setting-up Production   

Water Scar

Baleful Astral Influences

Lower Amputee
Classified Balefulness
Heavenly Fire
Everything General  
————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

丫 人

Bifurcation, Person
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

門 灶 廚

Gate, Stove, Kitchen