China's Lunar Calendar 2013 07-01

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Calendars and Almanacs"  

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT July 7.....................................................................................................June 30 RIGHT

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) 
一七
日月

一期星

Seventh Month, First Day

Astral Period One
Monday, July 1

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Section Two

Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)

月生時歲
恩氣德德

Generational Virtue
Timely Virtue
Engendered Vapor
Lunar Kindness

—————————————————

Section Three
Auspicious Hours
(top to bottom, right to left) 
申辰子

吉中凶

酉己丑

吉吉吉

戌午寅

凶中凶

亥未卯

凶吉吉

23:00-01:00 Inauspicious
01:00-03:00 Auspicious
03:00-05:00 Inauspicious
05:00-07:00 Auspicious

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

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

塞補置買
穴垣業田

Buying Land
Setting-up Industry
Patching Embankments
Stopping-up Caves

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
四
戊
辰
木

畢
開

Twenty-fourth Day (fifth lunar month)

Cyclical day: wuchen (5/60)

Phase (element): Wood

Constellation: Net (19/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————————————————— 

Section Six
Appropriate Activities 
(and Miscellaneous Information)
(top-to-bottom; right to left)

______________________
龍分
______________________
宜
動納會祭
土采友祀
上移出祈
樑徙行福
作開訂入
灶市婚學
將陽
九天五寡
空牢虛宿

Dragon Period

Appropriate Activities   
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Moving Soil
Erecting Beams
Stove Work

Yang General 

Miscellaneous Information    

Orphan Hostel
Five Voids
Heavenly Penitentiary
Nine Vacancies

 —————————————————  
Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

(right to left)
白 
White

—————————————————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

(Top to bottom; right to left) 

栖 牀 房

Perch, Bed, House