China's Lunar Calendar 2013 08-04

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) 

四
日

日期星

  Eighth Month, Fourth Day

Astral Period Sun
Sunday, August 4

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Section Two

Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)

十五金母
靈富匱倉

Maternal Granary
Golden Cupboard
Five Wealths
Ten Spirits

—————————————————

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

凶中中

酉己丑

中中凶

戌午寅

吉中吉

亥未卯

凶吉吉

23:00-01:00 In-Between
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 In-Between
11:00-13:00 In-Between
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
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

祈祭放開
福祀水渠

Opening Sluices
Putting-into Water
Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

廿
八
壬
寅
金
星
危

Twenty-eighth Day (sixth lunar month)

Cyclical day: renyin (39/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Star (25/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Danger (8/12)

————————————————— 

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

宜

上開納入

樑市采學

安交理會

牀易髮友

作修移出

灶造居行

安動入訂

葬土宅婚

兀下

虎游四密
口禍祥不日

Appropriate Activities  
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Engagements
Grain Payments
Patterning Hair
Moving Residences
Staying Home
Opening Markets
Trade and Commerce
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Erecting Beams
Positioning Beds
Stove Work
Positioning Graves

Lower Amputee

Miscellaneous Information 
Secret Days
Four Fortune-nots
Traveling Disaster
Tiger Mouth

————  

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

(right to left)
丫 
Bifurcation

—————————————————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

(Top to bottom; right to left)
爐 庫 倉 
Furnace, Storehouse, Granary