China's Lunar Calendar 2018 10-06

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/8.............................................................................................................10/1

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
六
日

六期星

Tenth Month, Sixth Day  
Saturday, October 6

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不生時
時氣陽

Timely Yang
Engendered Vapor
Not General

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

亥未卯
中中凶

23:00-01:00 In-Between
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 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
21:00-23:00 In-Between

 ————

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

忌
除動合
服土醬

Mixing Sauces
Moving Soil
Discarding Clothing

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
七
辛
未
土
女
開

Twenty-Seventh Day (Eighth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: xinwei (8/60)

Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Maiden: (10/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)

宜

裁出祭
衣行祀
移訂祈
徙婚福
上納入
樑采學
牧嫁會
養娶友
忌楊
土重上
符喪兀

 ————

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

Poplar Taboo

Baleful Asterisms

Upper Amputee
Repeat Mourning
Soil Charm

 ————

Section Seven

丫 人

Bifurcation, Person
 ————

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities

廚
厠 灶

Kitchen
Toilet, Stove