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.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

China's Lunar Calendar 2013 03-21

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs" 
Today's calendar 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
(top to bottom; right to left) 
廿
Third month, twenty-first day
Astral Period Four
(Thursday, March 21) 
———————————————— 
Section Two
Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)
不德歲
將日支
Generational Branch
Virtuous Days
No-General
—————————————————
Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left
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 Auspicious
05:00-07:00 Auspicious

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Inauspicious
19:00-21:00 Auspicious
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) 

吃作修
犬灶廚
Kitchen Repairs
Stove Work
Eating Dog
————————————————— 
 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 




Tenth Day (second lunar month)
Cyclical day: bingxu (23/60)
Phase (element): Earth
Constellation: Horn (1/28)
"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)
————————————————— 
Section Six
Appropriate Activities 
(and Miscellaneous Information)
(top-to-bottom; right to left) 
動嫁
土娶
補移祈
捉徙福
栽安出
種牀行
結修訂
綱造婚
不債
天月四
牢煞擊
Appropriate Activities
Paying Reverence
Inquiring-into Fortune
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Marriage Alliances
Moving Residences
Positioning Beds
Repairs and Building
Moving Soil
Capturing and Seizing
Planting Crops
Binding Nets  
   
Debt Not

Miscellaneous Information
Four Fisticuffs
Lunar Termination
Heavenly Penitentiary 
 ————————————————— 
 Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars
(right to left)

Person
————————————————— 
Section Eight 
Miscellaneous Activities
(Top to bottom; right to left) 
Kitchen
Perch, Stove

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