China's Lunar Calendar 2019 03-23

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/28....................................................................................................................3/20

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

六期星

Third Month, Twenty-Third Day
Saturday, March 23

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Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

陰寶德歲
德光合月
Generational Lunarity
Exemplary Linkage
Precious Rays
Yin Exemplarity

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
吉中中
酉巳丑
凶凶凶
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 In-Between
9:00-11:00 Inauspicious
11:00-13:00 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

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

 ————

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

忌
取田穿針
魚獵耳灸

Acupuncture and Moxibustion
Boring Ears (Cleaning and Hygiene)
Field Venery (Hunting)
Garnering Piscinity (Fishing)

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
七
己
未

火
女
定

Seventeenth Day (Second Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiwei (56/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Weaving Maiden (10/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

安交訂祭
牀易婚祀
作修裁祈
灶造衣福
修動移會
倉土徙友
安上開出
葬樑市行
氣死
陽血八小
 將忌專亡空
 ————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Cutting-out Clothing (Tailoring)
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Repairing Granaries
Positioning Graves 

Death Vapor

Baleful Astral Influences

Small Loss-Void
Eight Specialties
Blood Taboo
Yang General

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

白 人

White, Person

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

厠 門 占

Toilet, Gate, Divination

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