China's Lunar Calendar 2013 07-17

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT July 21.............................................................................................................July 13 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
七

三期星

Seventh Month, Seventeenth Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, July 17

———————————————— 
Section Two

Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)

月天六歲
德德合支

Generational Branch
Six Linkages
Heavenly Virtue
Lunar Virtue

—————————————————

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

吉吉吉

酉己丑

吉吉凶

戌午寅

中凶凶

亥未卯

凶吉中

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

裁安出開
衣牀財倉

Opening Granaries
Capital Outflow
Positioning Beds
Putting-together Clothing

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
十
甲
申
水

箕
除

Tenth Day (sixth lunar month)

Cyclical day: jiashen (21/60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Winnowing Basket (7/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Discard (2/12)

————————————————— 

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

宜
上掃訂祭
樑舍婚祀
安開納祈
門市采福
作修嫁入
灶造娶學
安動移會
葬土徙友

_________________
摯始鷹

_________________
 下猴五長
兀口虛星

Appropriate Activities
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Marriage Alliances
Moving Residences
Sweeping Floors
Opening Markets
Repairs and Building
Moving Soil
Erecting Beams
Positioning Doors
Stove Work
Positioning Graves

Hawks Begin Learning*
(the thirty-third of seventy-two five-day micro-periods in the solar year).  
*Another name for this period is 鷹乃學習.  
Its meaning is a good deal more pugilistic than it sounds. Check the link.

Miscellaneous Information

Long Star
Five Voids
Monkey Mouth
Lower Amputee
————  

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

(right to left)
人 火
Person, Fire

—————————————————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

(Top to bottom; right to left)
爐 門 占
Furnace, Gate, Divination