China's Lunar Calendar 2016 05-12

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/18................................................................................................................5/11

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
二

四期星

Fifth Month, Twelfth Day

Astral Period Four
Thursday, May 12

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Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

進青聖天
神龍心赦

Heavenly Amnesty

Sagely Heart-Mind

Blue-Green Dragon

Entering Spirits

————

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

戌午寅
中凶凶
亥未卯
凶吉中

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
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
塔苫出開
厕蓋財倉
Opening Granaries
Capital Outflow
Thatched Coverings
Building Toilets

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
六
甲
午
金
角
除
Sixth Day Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiawu (31/60)

Phase (element): Metal
Constellation: Horn (1/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

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

上掃嫁祭
樑舍娶祀
納醫納祈
畜病采福
除修移會
服造徙友
安動理出
葬土髮行
池咸
反馬伏暗
支口斷金

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Households
Patterning Hair
Sweeping Rooms
Physician Visits
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Livestock Payments
Discarding Clothing
Positioning Graves  

Widespread Pond 

Baleful Astral Influences

Dark Metal
Prostrate Break
Horse Mouth
Rebuke Branch
————

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白

White
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

碓 門 占

Pestle, Gate, Divination