China's Lunar Calendar 2019 10-02

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/3.........................................................9/29...........Monthly Calendar Information

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
二
日

三期星

Tenth Month, Second Day 
Wednesday, October2

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

五王四
富日相
Four Facings
Kingly Days
Five Abundances

————

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

亥未卯
中吉凶

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

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

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

 ————

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

忌
安放開
牀水渠

Opening Sluices
Putting-into Water
Positioning Beds

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
四
壬
申
金
箕
閉

Fourth Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: renshen (9/60)

Phase (element): Metal
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Winnowing Basket (7/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Closed (12/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

栽掃祭
種舎祀
結醞沐
網釀浴
納修理
畜倉髮
安補整
葬塞甲
離五
血長反
支星支

 ————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Bubbling and Bathing
Patterning Hair
Trimming Nails
Sweeping Rooms
Fermenting Beverages
Repairing Granaries
Patching and Plugging
Planting and Cultivating
Binding Nets
Livestock Payments
Positioning Beds

Five Separations

Baleful Astral Influences

Opposed Branch
Long Star
Blood Branch

Section Seven 
(the Chinese should be read right to left, 
but the English translation is underneath each character)
丫 水

Bifurcation, Water

 ————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Items 
(the Chinese should be read top-to-bottom, and right-to-left;
the English translation for is under the bottom characters)

倉
爐  庫

Granary
Furnace, Storehouse