Chinese hour almanac. Pick a date to see all 13 time blocks with stem-branch, hour spirit and its 黄道/黑道 label, 宜/忌, clash and hour star; the current block is highlighted. The 黄道/黑道 labels follow the rule quoted in the Qing manual 協紀辨方書. Folk tradition — cultural reference only.
Chinese Auspicious Hours (Shichen)
The spirit and its 黄道/黑道 label follow the rule the Qing imperial manual 欽定協紀辨方書 (卷七) quotes from 考原: the day's branch fixes the hour of the Green Dragon (寅/申 days at 子, 卯/酉 at 寅, 辰/戌 at 辰, 巳/亥 at 午, 子/午 at 申, 丑/未 at 戌) and the other eleven spirits follow in order; 青龍, 明堂, 金匱, 天德, 玉堂 and 司命 are the 黄道 six. That is the almanac's label, not our judgement of the hour. The hour tagged 时破 is the one whose branch clashes the day's; the same manual (卷三十四) calls it 時破大凶.
The 23:00–23:59 row follows the day change of the calendar library this tool runs on: from 23:00 it is already the next day's 子 hour, so the row shows the same stem-branch, spirit, 宜/忌 and hour star as the next day's 00:00 row. Traditions that change the day at midnight count this hour as the old day's 夜子 and would give it a different spirit.
The blocks are clock hours in Singapore time (UTC+8). A tradition that counts 时辰 on local solar time would put each boundary about an hour later in Singapore: in 2026, solar noon there falls between 12:48 and 13:19 on the clock. The Singapore birth-time guide explains why.
How to use
Pick a date
It opens on today's Singapore date. Choose any Gregorian date from 1900 to 2100; the tool converts it to the lunar calendar and lists that day's hours.
Read the 13 rows
Rows run in clock order: the 子 hour at 00:00, then 丑, 寅, 卯 … 亥, then a 23:00–23:59 row. The calendar library this tool uses changes the day at 23:00, so that last row is the next day's 子 hour: it is marked "next day" and matches the next day's 00:00 row.
Compare spirit, 宜, 忌, clash and hour star
Each row shows the stem-branch, time range, the hour spirit with its 黄道 or 黑道 label (and a 时破 tag on the hour that clashes the day), 宜 (activities listed as suited), 忌 (activities listed to avoid), the clashed zodiac animal and branch, the 煞 direction, and the hour nine-star.
Spot the highlighted "NOW" block
When the chosen date is today, the tool highlights the block covering the current Singapore clock hour and tags it "NOW". Re-run it after the hour changes.
The twelve 时辰 and how an almanac labels each one
Before the 24-hour clock, Chinese timekeeping divided a day and night into twelve 时辰 (shíchen), two-hour blocks each named after one of the twelve Earthly Branches: 子, 丑, 寅, 卯, 辰, 巳, 午, 未, 申, 酉, 戌, 亥. The 子 block runs 23:00–01:00 and the 午 block 11:00–13:00. This tool lists every block of a chosen day with its stem-branch, its hour spirit and that spirit's 黄道 (yellow path) or 黑道 (black path) label, and the 宜, 忌, clash, 煞 and hour-star entries from the tables of lunar-javascript, the open-source calendar library it runs on.
How an hour is labelled 黄道 or 黑道
The Qing imperial manual 欽定協紀辨方書 states the rule in one line (卷七, entry 黄道黒道), quoting an earlier work it calls 考原. The twelve spirits run 青龍 (Green Dragon), 明堂, 天刑, 朱雀, 金匱, 天德, 白虎, 玉堂, 天牢, 玄武, 司命, 勾陳, and "日起時則子日申時起青龍": on a 子 day the Green Dragon falls on the 申 hour and the rest follow in order. The starting hour moves with the day's branch — 寅/申 days start at 子, 卯/酉 at 寅, 辰/戌 at 辰, 巳/亥 at 午, 子/午 at 申, 丑/未 at 戌. The same entry, citing 神樞經, names 青龍, 明堂, 金匱, 天德, 玉堂 and 司命 as the 黄道 six. We coded the rule and compared it with the library for all 144 day-and-hour pairs; they agree on every one. The manual's own editors wrote that the books never say why these spirits are good or bad ("何以吉何以凶則未言其故"), so the column reports the almanac's label rather than a verdict of ours. The same manual (卷三十四, 用時法) calls the hour whose branch clashes the day's "時破大凶" — on a 子 day, the 午 hour — and the table tags that hour 时破.
Why there are 13 rows: the 子 hour crosses midnight
The 子 block runs from 23:00 to 01:00, across the change of date, and traditions differ on which day its first hour belongs to. A note in the Qing text 天經或問 (卷三) records both: ordinary reckoning began the day with the 子 hour at 23:00, while astronomers counted the day from 子正初刻 (00:00) to the end of what they called 夜子; the official 大統曆志 (卷六) likewise counts its day "自子正初刻至夜子初四刻". This tool follows its calendar library, which changes the day at 23:00. The 23:00–23:59 row is therefore the first hour of the next day's 子, and shows that day's stem-branch, spirit, 宜/忌 and hour star — the same as the next day's 00:00 row. Counted instead as the old day's 夜子, that hour would always get a different spirit, and a different 黄道/黑道 label on eight of the twelve day branches.
Clock hours, not solar hours
The blocks are clock hours in Singapore time (UTC+8). The Qing manual counted hours on the sun: its tables (卷十二) put sunrise at the spring equinox at 卯正初刻. A tradition that reads 时辰 on local solar time would put each boundary about an hour later in Singapore; in 2026, solar noon there falls between 12:48 and 13:19 on the clock. Our Singapore birth-time guide explains the offset.
How to read 宜, 忌, the clash and the hour star
宜 and 忌 are the activities lunar-javascript's hour tables list as suited and to be avoided; other almanacs differ in the details. The clash (冲) is the branch six places from the hour's branch and its zodiac animal — the 子 hour clashes the horse, 马 (午). 煞 is the direction the library gives. The hour star is the 紫白 flying star the library places on that block; 1-White, 6-White and 8-White are commonly read as favourable, 2-Black and 5-Yellow as calling for caution.
Cultural stance and disclaimer
Hour selection is part of Chinese folk custom. This is a cultural and entertainment reference, not a predictive tool, and its validity is not supported by modern science. Different almanacs and schools can give contradictory lists; this tool's 宜/忌 come from its embedded calendar library, which is one reading among several. For decisions that matter, weigh the practical facts and consult qualified professionals.
The day's branch decides where the Green Dragon hour falls
The twelve 时辰 are named after the Earthly Branches, two hours each: 子 (23-1), 丑 (1-3), 寅 (3-5) … 亥 (21-23).
The day's branch fixes the Green Dragon's hour: on a 子 day it is the 申 hour (15:00–16:59), and the other eleven spirits follow in order — the rule 協紀辨方書 卷七 quotes from 考原.
Of the twelve spirits, 青龍, 明堂, 金匱, 天德, 玉堂 and 司命 are 黄道 (the same entry, citing 神樞經), so the twelve rows from 00:00 to 22:59 always hold six 黄道 hours and six 黑道.
The spirit this table calls 天德 is also named 寶光: the 協紀辨方書 editors adopted that existing alias because 天德 clashed with another spirit of the same name. An almanac that prints 寶光 for an hour means the same spirit.
協紀辨方書 卷三十四 (用時法) calls the hour whose branch clashes the day's "時破大凶" — on a 子 day, the 午 hour. Each day has exactly one such hour between 00:00 and 22:59, and the table tags it.
Each block's stem-branch is derived from the day stem: the same branch carries a different stem on different days, so 宜/忌, clash, and hour star change daily — which is why you pick a date first.
冲 (clash) is the branch six places from the hour's branch, with its zodiac animal: the 子 hour clashes the horse (午), the 午 hour the rat (子). The table prints both.
The hour nine-star uses the 紫白 system: 1-White, 2-Black, 3-Jade, 4-Green, 5-Yellow, 6-White, 7-Red, 8-White, 9-Purple. 1/6/8-White are often read as favourable; 2-Black and 5-Yellow as calling for caution.
The Qing day had 96 刻 (協紀辨方書 卷十二 gives 晝四十八刻 and 夜四十八刻 at the spring equinox), so a 时辰 held eight 刻 of 15 minutes. 午时三刻, read as 午初三刻, falls at about 11:45.
This tool computes entirely in your browser — no network, no model calls, and it does not store the dates you look up. The spirit is computed from the rule above; 宜/忌 and the rest come from an embedded calendar library. Cultural reference only.
Frequently asked questions
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Not scientifically validated. Hour-fortunes are a centuries-old folk system, but their validity has never passed modern statistical scrutiny and different almanacs even disagree. This tool does not endorse predictive accuracy — cultural/entertainment reference only.
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They are the almanac's labels for each hour's spirit. By the rule 協紀辨方書 卷七 quotes, the day's branch sets where the Green Dragon starts and the twelve spirits follow in order; 青龍, 明堂, 金匱, 天德, 玉堂 and 司命 are 黄道, the rest 黑道. The manual's editors noted that the books never say why these spirits are good or bad. This tool reports the label; it does not judge any hour good or bad.
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Because the 子 block (23:00–01:00) straddles midnight. This tool follows its calendar library, which changes the day at 23:00: the 00:00 row is the chosen day's 子 hour, and the 23:00–23:59 row is the first hour of the next day's 子, with the next day's stem-branch, spirit, 宜/忌 and hour star — the same as the next day's 00:00 row. Traditions that change the day at midnight count that hour as the old day's 夜子 and give it a different spirit. Qing texts record both reckonings.
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冲 is the branch six places from the block's branch; the table prints its zodiac animal too — the 子 hour clashes the horse (午), the 卯 hour the rooster (酉). Almanacs print it as the sign the hour clashes; this tool gives no advice on it.
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The hour nine-star is the 紫白 flying star on duty for the block — 1-White, 2-Black, 3-Jade, 4-Green, 5-Yellow, 6-White, 7-Red, 8-White, 9-Purple — as placed by the embedded calendar library. 1/6/8-White are often read as favourable; 2-Black and 5-Yellow as calling for caution.
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Time-selection has many schools: almanacs differ in their 宜/忌 lists, in whether the day changes at 23:00 or at midnight, and some lists of "good hours" leave out a 黄道 hour that is 时破; a tradition may also count hours on the sun rather than the clock. This tool computes the spirit from the rule 協紀辨方書 quotes and takes 宜/忌 from its embedded library — one reading among several.
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Gregorian dates from 1900 to 2100. The date picker is limited to that range, and a date outside it shows a "no data" notice.
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Only when the date you look up is today: the tool reads the current time in Singapore (the one clock this site runs on, so a new day starts at midnight there), matches the covering block, and tags it "NOW". Hour 0 maps to the 00:00 子 row, hour 23 to the 23:00–23:59 row (the next day's 子), the rest to their two-hour blocks.
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The calendar library outputs Simplified terms. When the page is in Traditional, each 宜/忌 term goes through a built-in Simplified→Traditional (Taiwan) lexicon and the 煞 direction is converted character by character; spirit names, 黄道/黑道 and zodiac animals come from the tool's own Traditional lists. Unmapped terms pass through unchanged.
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No. Everything is computed locally in your browser — no server requests, no model calls. RECATOOLS enforces zero-tracking and zero-storage for these lookups.
Method & sources
How it computes
Hour spirit and 黄道/黑道 label by the rule 欽定協紀辨方書 卷七 quotes from 考原: the day branch fixes the 青龍 hour (寅申 days at 子, 卯酉 at 寅, 辰戌 at 辰, 巳亥 at 午, 子午 at 申, 丑未 at 戌) and the twelve spirits follow in order; 青龍 明堂 金匱 天德 玉堂 司命 are 黄道 (神樞經). 時破 is the hour clashing the day branch (卷三十四). Computed in ShichenKernel. 宜/忌, 煞 and hour star from lunar-javascript. The 23:00 row is the next day's 子 hour in every field. Clock hours, UTC+8.
What this tool implements
- 欽定協紀辨方書 卷三十四, 用時法: 「時破大凶日支衝時支也如子日午時之類」. The page tags that hour and attributes the judgement; it never calls an hour lucky or unlucky in its own voice.
- The 子 hour crossing midnight: 天經或問 卷三 records the popular 23:00 day start beside the astronomers' midnight day; 大統曆志 卷六 counts the day 「自子正初刻至夜子初四刻」. The tool follows its library and changes the day at 23:00, and says so on the page.
- Corrected 2026-10-18: the 23:00 row was described as late-zi "still carrying the previous day's stem-branch" while it showed the next day's, and took its hour star from the previous day; the clash column showed a bare branch where the prose promised the zodiac animal; an unsourced pull-quote credited to a "folk almanac maxim", a claim that classical almanacs print 子 twice, a "peak of yang" explanation of 午时三刻 and a meridian-clock card were removed; the 1900-2100 range is now enforced.
Sources
- 欽定協紀辨方書 (四庫全書本), 卷七 (黄道黒道). Wikisource. https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/欽定協紀辨方書_(四庫全書本)/卷07
- 欽定協紀辨方書 (四庫全書本), 卷三十四 (用時法). Wikisource. https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/欽定協紀辨方書_(四庫全書本)/卷34
- 欽定協紀辨方書 (四庫全書本), 卷十二 (日出入晝夜時刻). Wikisource. https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/欽定協紀辨方書_(四庫全書本)/卷12
- 天經或問 (四庫全書本), 卷三. Wikisource. https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/天經或問_(四庫全書本)/卷3
- 大統厯志 (四庫全書本), 卷六. Wikisource. https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/大統厯志_(四庫全書本)/卷6
- 6tail. lunar-javascript (MIT), vendored at public/assets/vendor/lunar-javascript/. https://github.com/6tail/lunar-javascript
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