China's Lunar Calendar 2013 08-02

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT August 6.............................................................................................................July 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) 

二
日

五期星

  Eighth Month, Second Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, August 2

———————————————— 
Section Two

Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)

解金歲
神堂祿

Generational Emolument
Golden Hall
Releasing Spirits

—————————————————

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

吉中凶

酉己丑

吉中凶

戌午寅

凶凶中

亥未卯

凶吉中

23:00-01:00 Inauspicious
01:00-03:00 Inauspicious
03:00-05:00 In-Between
05:00-07:00 In-Between

07:00-09:00 In-Between
09:00-11:00 In-Between
11:00-13:00 Inauspicious
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

問結經
卜綱絡

Energy Channels

Binding Nets

Asking-about Futures

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
六
庚
子
土
鬼
執

Twenty-sixth Day (sixth lunar month)

Cyclical day: gengzi (37/60)

Phase (element): Earth

Constellation: Ghost (23/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Grasp (6/12)

————————————————— 

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

宜

田沐入
獵浴學
成赴出
服任行
除安裁
服牀衣
安捕理
葬捉髮
行時雨大

歸上咸
忌兀池

Appropriate Activities  
Entering Study
Going Out (and about)
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair
Bathing and Bubbling
Taking-up Office
Positioning Beds
Capturing and Seizing
Field Venery
Completing Clothing
Discarding Clothing
Positioning Graves

Great Rains Sweep Through
(the thirty-sixth of seventy-two five-day micro-periods in the solar calendar)

Miscellaneous Information 
Widespread Pond

Upper Amputee

Return Taboo

————  

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

(right to left)
丫 水
Bifurcation, Water

—————————————————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

(Top to bottom; right to left)
占

磨 碓
Divination
Mortar, Pestle