China's Lunar Calendar 2018 09-12

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
9/13..............................................9/10................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-solar (or "luni-solar" calendar; I call it the "lunar" calendar in order to distinguish it from the kinds of calendars most Westerners use. It has a basic translation and minimal interpretation. Unless you have been studying 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. You will likely find that several of the translations seem quite "fanciful" in English. I am simply trying to convey that they also sound fairly fanciful in Chinese.

Section One

Solar Calendar Date
十
二

三期星

Ninth Month, Twelfth Day  
Wednesday, September 12

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

生陰麒
氣德麟

Unicorn
Yin Exemplarity
Engendered Vapor

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
中凶中
酉巳丑
吉吉凶
戌午寅
中吉中

亥未卯
吉吉凶

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

07:00-09:00 Inauspicious
9:00-11:00 Auspicious
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 In-Between
21:00-23:00 Auspicious

 ————

Section Four 
Activities to Avoid  
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 

忌
動整理
土甲髮

Patterning Hair
Trimming Nails
Moving Soil

 ————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
三
丁
未
水
壁
開

Third Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dingwei (44/60)

Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Eastern Wall (14/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)

宜

移出祭
徙行祀
堅訂祈
柱婚福
上納入
樑采學
牧裁會
養 衣友
痕水
陰土上
將福兀

 ————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Residences
Erecting Pillars
Raising Beams
Raising Livestock

Water Scar

Baleful Asterisms

Upper Amputee
Soil Charm
Yin General

 ————

Section Seven

丫 人

Bifurcation, Person
 ————

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities

倉
厠 庫

Granary

Toilet, Storehouse