Day spirit
Gōu Chén
Hooked Array
An almanac describes traditional day-types. It cannot decide health, money, law, marriage or children. Burial, marriage and medical items on these pages are what a book states, never advice.
In the classical sources
丑者建星之位建星者旗也故為勾陳猶鹵簿也
丑 is the place of the Establishing Stars, which are banners; so it is the Hooked Array, like an imperial escort.
協紀辨方書 卷七
About this entry
勾陳 closes the list at twelfth and starts at 亥 in the first month, one of the black-path six. 曹震圭 calls it the quarters of the imperial consorts at the central palace, and 協紀辨方書 卷七 notes 土勃 as another name.
The editors move it to 丑, the place of the constellation 建星, whose banners suggest a ceremonial escort. 星厯考原 卷五 gives the practical rule of counting, and after 勾陳 the ring returns to 青龍. Both the yellow and the black groups come from 神樞經, whose grading the 1741 editors say goes unexplained.
Where this text comes from
The Chinese follows the Wikisource typed text of the Siku copy, under its CC BY-SA terms. Statements about the calculator describe its own rules, and modern practice is labeled as modern.
The English here is our own plain wording. Lists keep the items of the source.