China's Lunar Calendar 2017 10-02

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/2...............................................................................................................9/24

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

Tenth Month, Second Day

Monday, October 2

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

吉母歲
期倉德

Generational Virtue
Maternal Granary
Auspicious Time-slice

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
凶凶中
酉己丑
中吉中
戌午寅

吉中吉
亥未卯
吉吉凶

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

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 Auspicious
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
行放開
喪水渠

Opening Sluices
Putting-into Water
Mourning Visits

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
三
壬
戌
水
心
除
Thirteenth Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renxu (59/60)

Phase (element): Water
Constellation: Heart-Mind (5/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

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

宜

動移祭
土徙祀
上理祈
梁髮福
安掃出
牀舎行
補修裁
塞造衣
喪三
陽血月
將忌害
————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Going Out (and about)
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair
Sweeping Rooms
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Plugging-up Caves

Three Mournings

Baleful Astral Influences

Lunar Harm
Blood Taboo
Yang General

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
白

White
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

倉
栖 庫

Granary

Perch, Storehouse