China's Lunar Calendar 2019 02-05 New Year's Day

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
2/8.........................................2/5................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
五二年一二
日月    九〇

二期星

2019
Second Month, Fifth Day
Tuesday, February 5

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

神大鳴除陰福
在明吠神德生
Fortunate Engendering
Yin Exemplarity
Expelling Spirits
Chirp Bark
Great Clarity
Spirits There

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

亥未卯
中凶凶

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious

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

 ————

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

忌
進新築栽置詞
水船堤種產訟

Lawsuits and Litigation
Setting-up Industry
Planting and Cultivating
Constructing Dikes
New Boats
Entering Water

 ————
 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

除
一
癸
酉
觜
危

First Day (First Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: guiyou (10/60)

Phase (element): Metal
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Beak of the Turtle (20/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
節春

Spring Festival
The text that follows focuses upon the rich cosmology of the 
various and intersecting Chinese cycles. Without context, 
it appears to be almost meaningless to the general reader 
(e.g. Wealth Spirit: Due South; Lighting Incense: Appropriate...)