China's Lunar Calendar 2013 07-28

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
八

日期星

Seventh Month, Twenty-eighth Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, July 28

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Section Two

Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)

不聖
將心

Sagely Heart
Not General

—————————————————

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

吉中吉

酉己丑

中凶凶

戌午寅

吉中吉

亥未卯

凶中吉

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 Inauspicious
11:00-13:00 In-Between
13:00-15:00 In-Between

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 In-Between
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) 

忌

行動
喪土

Moving Soil
Mourning Visits

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
一
乙
未
金
昂
建

Twenty-first Day (sixth lunar month)

Cyclical day: yiwei (32/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Pleiades (18/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Establish (1/12)

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

宜

 開祭
市祀
安出
牀行
納嫁
畜娶
_____________________________
土
潤
溽
暑
_____________________________
 三土
喪府

Appropriate Activities  
Venerating Ancestors
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Opening Markets
Positioning Beds
Livestock Payments

Earth is Steaming Wet
(the thirty-fifth of seventy-two five-day micro-periods in the solar calendar)

Miscellaneous Information 
Earth Palace
Three Mournings

————  

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

(right to left)
人 神
Person, Spirit

—————————————————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

(Top to bottom; right to left)
碓
厠 磨
Pestle
Toilet, Mortar