China's Lunar Calendar 2019 05-31

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
卅
一

五期星

Fifth Month, Thirty-First Day
Friday, May 31

————

Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

德歲
日支
Generational Branch
Exemplary Days

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

亥未卯
凶吉吉

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 In-Between
9:00-11:00 Inauspicious
11:00-13:00 In-Between
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

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

 ————

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

忌
置買
業田

Buying Land
Setting-up Industry

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
七
戊
辰
木
鬼
閉

Twenty-Seventh Day (Fourth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: wuchen (5/60)

Phase (element): Wood
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Ghost (23/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Closed (12/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

交祭
易祀
安祈
牀福
築裁
堤衣
補立
塞約
五
虛
陽血
將支
 ————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Cutting-out Clothing (Tailoring)

Making Appointments

Trade and Commerce

Positioning Beds

Constructing Dikes

Patching and Plugging

Five Voids

Baleful Astral Influences

Blood Branch
Yang General

Section Seven
丫 水

Bifurcation, Water

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

房
栖 牀

Edifice
Perch, Bed