From Round to Square (and back)

For The Emperor's Teacher, scroll down (↓) to "Topics." It's the management book that will rock the world (and break the vase, as you will see). Click or paste the following link for a recent profile of the project: http://magazine.beloit.edu/?story_id=240813&issue_id=240610

A new post appears every day at 12:05* (CDT). There's more, though. Take a look at the right-hand side of the page for over four years of material (2,000 posts and growing) from Seinfeld and country music to every single day of the Chinese lunar calendar...translated. Look here ↓ and explore a little. It will take you all the way down the page...from round to square (and back again).
*Occasionally I will leave a long post up for thirty-six hours, and post a shorter entry at noon the next day.

Friday, March 1, 2013

China's Lunar Calendar 2013 03-01

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs" 
Today's date:                                     
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 calendar, along with basic translation and minimal interpretation. Unless you have been studying lunar 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.
 
Section One
Solar Calendar Date

一三
日月
Third month, first day
Astral Period Five
(Friday, March 1
———————————————— 
Section Two
Beneficent Stars
月王月
恩日德
Lunar Virtue
Kingly Days
Lunar Grace
—————————————————
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
申辰子
酉己丑
戌午寅
亥未卯
23:00-01:00 Auspicious
01:00-03:00 In-Between
03:00-05:00 In-Between
05:00-07:00 Auspicious

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
21:00-23:00 Inauspicious
*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 
 忌 
祭作修
祀灶廚  
Kitchen Repairs
Stove Work
Paying Reverence


————————————————— 
 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 


Twentieth day (first lunar month)
Cyclical day: bingyin (3/60)
Phase (element): Fire
Constellation: Dipper (9/28)
Jianchu Cycle: Establish (1/12)
————————————————— 
Section Six
Appropriate Activities 
(and Miscellaneous Information)

開立會
倉約友
伐交訂
木易婚
納納納
畜財采
安上裁
葬樑衣
府土
天往月
刑亡建
Appropriate Activities
Meeting Friends
Engagement to Marry
Grain Payments
Cutting out Clothing
Setting-up Appointments
Trade and Commerce
Tax Payments
Erecting Beams
Opening Granaries
Felling Trees
Livestock Payments
Positioning Graves 
 
Earth Palace
   
Miscellaneous Information
Lunar Establishment
 Towards Loss
Heavenly Punishment
 ————————————————— 
 Section Seven
Inauspicious Star
白天
White, Heaven
————————————————— 
Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities 
爐灶
Kitchen
Furnace, Stove

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