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.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

China's Lunar Calendar 2013 03-06

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

Third month, sixth day
Astral Period Three
(Wednesday, March 6
———————————————— 
Section Two
Beneficent Stars
陰續麒
德世麟
Unicorn
Continued Generations
Yin Virtue 
—————————————————
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
申辰子
吉中
酉己丑
戌午寅
亥未卯
中吉
23:00-01:00  In-Between
01:00-03:00 Inauspicious
03:00-05:00 Auspicious
05:00-07:00 Auspicious

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
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 
除造合
服酒醬
Mixing Sauces
Stove Work
Discarding Clothing
————————————————— 
 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 
廿


Twenty-fifth day (first lunar month)
Cyclical day: xinwei (8/60)
Phase (element): Earth
Constellation: Room (14/28)
Jianchu Cycle: Decide (5/12)* 
*Repeated from yesterday (a relatively infrequent occurrence).
————————————————— 
Section Six
Appropriate Activities 
(and Miscellaneous Information)
動嫁
土娶
上納祈
樑采福
作移入
徙學
安開出
葬市行
——————————
氣死
——————————
俱復血
將喪忌

Appropriate Activities
Paying Reverence
Inquiring (into) Fortune
Entering Study 
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Ceremonies
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Moving Soil 
Erecting Beams
Stove Work
Positioning Graves 

Death Vapors

Miscellaneous Information
Blood Taboo
Repeated Mournings
No-Exceptions General
 ————————————————— 
 Section Seven
Inauspicious Star
白  
White, Person
————————————————— 
Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities 

廚灶
Toilet
Kitchen, Stove

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