China's Lunar Calendar 2013 07-22

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT July 29.............................................................................................................July 22 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) 
廿
二

一期星

Seventh Month, Twenty-second Day

Astral Period One
Monday, July 22

———————————————— 
Section Two

Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)

德天
合月

Heavenly Moon
Virtuous Linkage

—————————————————

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

吉中吉

酉己丑

吉吉凶

戌午寅

中中吉

亥未卯

凶凶吉

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

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

成除
服服

Discarding Clothing
Putting-together Clothing

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
五
己
丑
火
危
破

Fifteenth Day (sixth lunar month)

Cyclical day: jichou (26/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Danger (12/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Destroy (7/12)

————————————————— 

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

______________________________
大
暑
五子
十初
六三
分時
______________________________
 宜

 屋破
______________________________
 腐
草
為
螢
______________________________
 重月
喪破

Great Heat
Starts at the beginning of the zi hour: 3:56 a.m.
 (The twelfth of twenty-four fifteen-day periods in the solar calendar)


Appropriate Activities 
Destroying Rooms

Rotten Grass Turns-into Fireflies
(The thirty-fourth of seventy-two five-day micro-periods in the solar calendar)

Miscellaneous Information

Lunar Destruction
Repeated Mournng
————  

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

(right to left)
丫 州    
Bifurcation, Continent

—————————————————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

(Top to bottom; right to left)
占
厠 門
Divination
Toilet, Gate