China's Lunar Calendar 2019 04-21

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
4/25.............................................................................................................4/18

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
一

日期星

Fourth Month, Twenty-First Day
Sunday, April 21

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

天天聖母
醫喜心倉
Maternal Granary
Sagely Heart-Mind
Heavenly Happiness
Heavenly Physician

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

亥未卯
中中吉

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 Inauspicious
13:00-15:00 In-Between

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

 ————

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

忌
成除置買
服靈業田

Buying Land
Setting-up Industry
Exorcising Spirits
Completing Clothing

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
七
戊
子
火
虛
成

Seventeenth Day (Third Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: wuzi (25/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Void (12/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

上開出祭
樑市行祀
安交嫁祈
門易娶福
作修納入
灶造采學
醞動醫會
釀 土病友
煞班
歸復上水
忌喪兀痕
 ————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Physician Visits
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Gates
Stove Work
Fermenting Beverages

Classified Balefulness

Baleful Astral Influences

Water Scar
Upper Amputee
Repeat Mourning 
Return Taboo

Section Seven
丫 地

Bifurcation, Earth

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

碓 牀 房

Pestle, Bed, Edifice

————