China's Lunar Calendar 2019 05-30

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
6/2...............................................................................................................5/26

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
三
十

四期星

Fifth Month, Thirtieth Day
Thursday, May 30

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

生陰母
氣德倉
Maternal Granary
Yin Exemplarity
Engendered Vapor

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

亥未卯
凶吉凶

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

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 In-Between
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
開穿理
池井髮

Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Boring Wells
Opening Ponds

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
六
丁
卯
火
井
開

Twenty-Sixth Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: dingmao (4/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Well (22/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

上訂祭
樑婚祀
安移祈
門徙福
作修入
灶造學
栽動出
種土行
不債
天班水
火煞痕
 ————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Moving Residences
Repairing and Cultivating
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Gates
Stove Work
Planting and Cultivating

Debt Not

Baleful Astral Influences

Water Scar
Classified Balefulness
Heavenly Fire

Section Seven
丫 人

Bifurcation, Person

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

門
庫 倉

Gate
Storehouse, Granary