China's Lunar Calendar 2018 12-11

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
12/19...........................................................................................................12/11

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
一

二期星

Twelfth Month, Eleventh Day  
Tuesday, December 11

————
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

不陰合月
將德日德

Lunar Exemplarity
Linked Days
Yin Exemplarity
Not General

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

亥未卯
吉凶凶

23:00-01:00 Auspicious
01:00-03:00 In-Between
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 Inauspicious
13:00-15:00 Inauspicious

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
行成除理
喪服靈髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Expelling Spirits
Completing Clothing
Mourning Visits

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
五
丁
丑
水
觜
除

Fifth Day (Eleventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dingchou (14/60)

Phase (element): Water
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Beak of the Turtle (20/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)

宜

土掃娶祭
上舎納祀
樑開采祈
修市裁福 
倉交衣友
畜修徙出
安造醫行
葬動病嫁

復三月牛
喪喪忌口

 ———— 

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Residences
Physician Visits
Sweeping Rooms
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Cultivating
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Repairing Granaires
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Baleful Asterisms

Ox Mouth
Lunar Taboo
Three Mournings
Repeat Mourning

 ————

白 人

Bifurcation, Person
 ————

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities

厠 庫 倉

Toilet, Storehouse, Granary