China's Lunar Calendar 2018 11-23

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
11/28...............................................................................................................11/21

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
廿
三

五期星

Eleventh Month, Twenty-Third Day  
Friday, November 23

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天天合月
醫喜日德

Lunar Exemplarity
Linked Days
Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician

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

亥未卯
凶吉吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious

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

 ————

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

忌
取作修詞
魚造廚訟

Lawsuits and Litigation
Repairing Kitchens
Stove Work
Garnering Piscinity (Fishing)

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
六
己
未
火
亢
成

Sixteenth Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiwei (56/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Neck (2/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (9/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)

宜

修修訂祭
倉造婚祀
醞動裁祈
釀 土衣福
納上開入
畜樑市學
安安交會
葬牀易友
星火
厭四八四
 對擊專祥不

 ———— 

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Marriage Engagements
Cutting-out Clothing (Tailoring)
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Repairing Granaries
Fermenting Beverages
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves 
 
Fire Asterism
Baleful Asterisms

Four Fortune-Nots
Eight Specialties
Four Fisticuffs
Mutual Antagonism

 ————

丫

Bifurcation
 ————

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities

厠 門 占

Toilet, Gate, Divination