China's Lunar Calendar 2016 11-21

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
11/28................................................................................................................11/21

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
一

一期星

Eleventh Month, Twenty-First Day

Astral Period One
Monday, November 21

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天福三明
喜生合堂
Luminous Hall
Three Linkages
Engendering Fortune
Heavenly Happiness

————

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

中吉凶
亥未卯
吉吉凶

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 IIn-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
取田整理
魚獵甲髮
Patterning Hair
Clipping Nails
Field Venery
Catching Fish

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
二
丁
未
水
張
成
Twenty-Second Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dingwei (44/60)

Phase (element): Water
Constellation: Drawn Bow (26/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

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

宜

修交訂祭
倉易婚祀
安修納祈
牀造采福
作動裁入

灶土衣學

安上開會

葬樑市友
對厭

往招四八
亡搖擊專
————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors

Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Marriage Alliances

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Building

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Repairing Granaries

Positioning Beds

Stove Work

Positioning Beds 

Mutual Repression

Baleful Astral Influences

Eight Specialties
Four Fisticuffs
Rollicking Braggadocio
Toward Perishment 

———— 

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
人

Person

———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

厠 庫 倉

Toilet, Storehouse, Granary