China's Lunar Calendar 2018 11-19

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
11/20...............................................................................................................11/13

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
九

一期星

Eleventh Month, Nineteenth Day  
Monday, November 19

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

六歲德歲
合支日支

Generational Branch
Exemplary Days
Generational Branch
Six Linkages

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

亥未卯
吉吉吉

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


07:00-09:00 Inauspicious
9:00-11:00 Inauspicious
11:00-13:00 In-Between
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
21:00-23:00 Auspicious

 ————

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

忌
進新穿栽
水船井種

Planting and Cultivating
Boring Wells
New Boats
Entering Water

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
二
乙
卯
水
張
定

Twelfth Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yimao (52/60)

Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Drawn Bow (27/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)

宜

上開嫁祭
樑市娶祀
醞交納祈
釀易采福
安修裁會
牀造衣友
安動移出
葬土徙行
口兔
陰元死水
將武氣痕

 ————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing (Tailoring)
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Cultivating
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Fermenting Beverages
Positioning Beds
Positioning Graves

Rabbit Mouth

Baleful Asterisms

Water Scar
Death Vapor
Primal Martiality
Yin General

 ————

白 鬼

White, Person
 ————

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities

磨 碓 門

Mortar, Pestle, Gate