China's Lunar Calendar 2018 03-03

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦
3/8.....................................................................................................................3/1

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
日

六期星

Third Month, Third Day 
Saturday, March 3

————

Section Two
Beneficent Stars 

(top to bottom, right to left)

進時三歲
神德合支

Generational Branch
Three Linkages
Timely Virtue
Entering Spirits

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
凶凶凶
酉己丑
吉中吉
戌午寅

中凶吉
亥未卯
中吉中

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

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

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

The hours above are for Hong Kong. It is up to you if you want to recalibrate or to assume that the cyclicality of the calendar "covers" the rest of the world. This is a greater interpretive challenge than you might think.
                             —————————————————

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

忌
搭苫出開
厠蓋財倉

Opening Granaries
Capital Outflow
Thatched Coverings
Erecting Outhouses

————

Section Five 
Cosmological Information

十
六
甲

午

金
胃
定

Sixteenth Day (First Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiawu (31/60)

Phase (element): Metal
Constellation: Stomach (17/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Decide (5/12)

————

Section Six

Appropriate Activities

and Miscellaneous Information  

(top-to-bottom; right to left)

宜

上開出祭
樑市行祀
修交嫁祈
倉易娶福
安修納入
門造采學
作動移會
灶土徙友
喪重
俱死復上
將氣日兀

————

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Constructing
Moving Soil
Raising Beams
Repairing Granaries
Positioning Gates
Stove Work

Repeat Mourning

Baleful Astral Influences

Upper Amputee
Doubled Days
Death Vapor
Everything General

 
Section Seven

Inauspicious Stars
丫 火

Bifurcation, Fire
———— 

Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities

碓 門 占

Pestle, Gate, Divination