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.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

China's Lunar Calendar 2013 03-19

(A placeholder picture; to be updated soon)

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.

(Color copy soon) 
 
Section One
Solar Calendar Date
(top to bottom; right to left) 
十
九
二期星
Third month, nineteenth day
Astral Period Two
(Tuesday, March 19) 
———————————————— 
Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
六歲
合支
Generational Branch
Six Linkages
—————————————————
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子
吉吉吉
酉己丑
凶吉吉
戌午寅
中凶凶
亥未卯
凶吉中
23:00-01:00 Auspicious
01:00-03:00 Auspicious
03:00-05:00 Inauspicious
05:00-07:00 In-Between

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

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 
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 
忌
安開
牀倉
Opening Granaries
Positioning Beds
————————————————— 
 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 
初
八
甲
申
水
翌
執
Eighth Day (second lunar month)
Cyclical day: jiashen (21/60)
Phase (element): Water
Constellation: Drawn Wings (27/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)
————————————————— 
Section Six
Appropriate Activities 
(and Miscellaneous Information)
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 
宜
祭
祀
掃
舍
諸日
事值
不四
宜離
四
離
猴劫
口煞
Appropriate Activities
Paying Reverence
Sweeping Rooms 
 
"Four Separations" are on Day Duty
All Matters Are Inappropriate

Four Separations
 
Miscellaneous Information
Baleful Plunder
Monkey Mouth
 ————————————————— 
 Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(right to left)
人 水
Person, Water
————————————————— 
Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities
占
爐 門
(Top to bottom; right to left) 
 Divination
Furnace, Gate
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