China's Lunar Calendar 2019 11-23

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
11/25...........................................................................................................11/18

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
廿
三
六期星

Eleventh Month, Twenty-Third Day 
Saturday, November 23

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

進天月歲
神赦德德
Generational Exemplarity
Lunar Exemplarity 
Heavenly Amnesty
Entering Spirits

————

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

亥未卯
中吉中

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

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

 ————

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

忌
取問出開
魚卜財倉

Opening Granaries
Capital Outflow
Divinatory Inquiries
Garnering Piscinity (Fishing)

 
Section Five 
Cosmological Information

廿
七
甲

子
金
氐
除

Twenty-Seventh Day (Tenth Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiazi (1/60)

Phase (element): Metal
"Constellation Personality" Cycle: Foundation (3/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)
宜

動醫嫁祭
土病娶祀
上開納祈
樑市采福
安交移會
牀易徙友
安修理出
葬造髮行
池咸
俱白大大
將虎敗時
————

Appropriate Activities

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Patterning Hair (Haircuts and Styling)
Physician Visits
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Positioning Beds
Positioning Graves

Widespread Pond

Baleful Astral Influences

Great Times
Great Defeat
White Tiger
Everything General

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

Bifurcation, Fire

 ————

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)

碓 門 占

Pestle, Gate, Divination