China's Lunar Calendar 2013 07-12

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT July 12.......................            ....July 8............ Monthly Information 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) 
十
二

五期星

Seventh Month, Twelfth Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, July 12

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Section Two

Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)

進天德天
神喜合月

Heavenly Moon
Virtuous Linkage
Heavenly Happiness
Entering Spirits

—————————————————

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

中中吉

酉己丑

凶中凶

戌午寅

中吉凶

亥未卯

凶吉吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 In-Between
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

除成開穿
服服池井

Boring Wells
Opening Ponds
Completing Clothing
Discarding Clothing

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
五
己
卯
土

亢
成

Fifth Day (sixth lunar month)

Cyclical day: jimao (16/60)

Phase (element): Earth

Constellation: Neck (2/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Completion (9/12)

————————————————— 

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

宜

動醫出祭
土病行祀
上開嫁祈
樑市娶福
修交納入
倉易采學
安修移會
牀造徙友
蟋蟀居壁 
班復重月
煞日喪忌

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Moving Residences
Doctor Visits
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Erecting Beams
Repairing Granaries
Positioning Beds

Crickets Come into Walls
(the thirty-second of seventy-two five-day micro-periods in the solar year)

Miscellaneous Information

Lunar Taboo
Repeat Mourning
Returning Days
Classified Balefulness

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

(right to left)
丫 
Bifurcation

—————————————————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

(Top to bottom; right to left)
門 大 占

Gate, Big, Divination