China's Lunar Calendar 2019 04-11

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
4/17.............................................................................................................4/10

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

四期星

Fourth Month, Eleventh Day
Thursday, April 11

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Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

生六歲天
氣合支赦
Heavenly Amnesty
Generational Branch
Six Linkages
Engendered Vapor

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

亥未卯
中吉吉

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

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

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

 ————

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

忌
祈祭置買
福祀業田

Buying Land
Setting-up Industry
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
七
戊
寅

土
角
開

Seventh Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: wuyin (15/60)

Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Horn (1/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

上開納入
樑市采學
安交嫁會
牀易娶友
修修移出
倉造徙行
納動醫訂
畜土病婚
痕水
陰復虎下
將喪口兀
 ————

Appropriate Activities
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Moving Residences
Physician Visits
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Cultivating
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Repairing Granaries
Livestock Payments

Water Scar

Baleful Astral Influences

Lower Amputee
Tiger Orifice
Repeat Mourning
Yin General

Section Seven
白 火

White, Fire

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

爐 牀 房

Furnace, Bed, Edifice

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