China's Lunar Calendar 2017 10-22

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/23......................................................10/20..............Monthly Calendar 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
廿
二

日期星

Tenth Month, Twenty-Second Day

Sunday, October 22

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不天三歲歲
將喜合祿德

Generational Virtue
Generational Emolument
Three Linkages
Heavenly Happiness
Not General

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

中中吉
亥未卯
吉吉凶

23:00-01:00 Inauspicious
01:00-03:00 Auspicious
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 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
進新苫放開
水船蓋水渠

Opening Sluices
Putting-into Water
Thatched Coverings
New Boats
Entering Water

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

除
三
壬
午
木
星
成
Third Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renwu (19/60)

Phase (element): Wood
Constellation: Asterism (25/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

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

宜

作修移出祭
灶造徙行祀
開動醫訂祈
倉土病婚福
成上開納入
服梁市采學
安安交嫁會
葬牀易娶友
星長
天班刀密水
刑煞砧日痕

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Moving Residences
Physician Inquiries
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Opening Granaries
Completing Clothing
Positioning Graves

Long Star

Baleful Astral Influences

Water Scar
Mysterious Days
Sword Anvil
Classified Balefulness
Heavenly Punishment

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
丫 水

Bifurcation, Water
———— 

Section Eight

Miscellaneous Activities

碓

庫 倉

Pestle
Storehouse, Granary