China's Lunar Calendar 2019 05-12

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
5/17...............................................................................................................5/10

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
二

日期星

Fifth Month, Twelfth Day
Sunday, May 12

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

進月合歲
神恩日德
Generational Exemplarity
Linked Days
Lunar Kindness
Entering Spirits

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

亥未卯
凶吉凶

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

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

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

 ————

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

忌
築時栽動
堤插種土

Moving Soil
Planting and Cultivating
Timely Injections
Constructing Dikes

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
八
己
酉
土
房
定

Eighth Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiyou (46/60)

Phase (element): Earth
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Edifice (4/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (4/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

開開納祭
倉市采祀
醞交嫁祈
釀易娶福
納竪移出
畜柱徙行
安上理訂
葬樑髮婚
囊地
陰朱死密
將雀氣日
 ————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Erecting Pillars
Raising Beams
Opening Granaries
Fermenting Beverages
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves

Earth Duffel (Dirt Bag)

Baleful Astral Influences

Mysterious Days
Death Vapor
Vermilion Bird
Yin General

Section Seven
人 林

Person, Copse

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

門 大 占

Gate, Great, Divination