China's Lunar Calendar 2019 10-05

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
10/10.................................................................................................................10/4

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
五
日

六期星

Tenth Month, Fifth Day 
Saturday, October 5

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

十驛合月
靈馬日德
Lunar Exemplarity
Linked Days
Postal Horse
Ten Spirits

————

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

亥未卯
中吉凶

23:00-01:00 Auspicious
01:00-03:00 Auspicious
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 In-Between

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

 ————

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

忌
成除嫁栽
服靈娶種

Planting and Cultivating
Marriage Alliances
Exorcising Spirits
Completing Clothing

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

初
七
乙
亥
火
女
滿

Seventh Day (Ninth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: yisi (12/60)

Phase (element): Fire
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Maiden (10/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

開交納祭
倉易采祀
安修裁入
牀造衣學
補動移會
塞土徙友
納上開出
畜樑市行
痕水
俱復豬下
將喪口兀

 ————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Going Out (and about)

Grain Payments

Cutting-out Clothing (Haircuts and Styling)

Moving Residences

Opening Markets

Trade and Commerce

Repairing and Constructing

Moving Soil

Raising Beams

Opening Granaries

Positioning Beds

Patching and Plugging

Livestock Payments

Water Scar

Baleful Astral Influences

Lower Amputee
Hog Orifice
Repeat Mourning
Everything General

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

White

 ————

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)

牀 磨 碓

Bed, Mortar, Pestle