China's Lunar Calendar 2013 08-07

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT August 10...........................August 7 RIGHT...Monthly Calendar Information

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) 
七八
日月

三期星

  Eighth Month, Seventh Day

Astral Period Three
Wednesday, August 7

———————————————— 
Section Two

Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)

生玉王
氣堂日

Kingly Days
Jade Hall
Engendered Vapor

—————————————————

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

吉中吉

酉己丑

吉凶凶

戌午寅

吉中中

亥未卯

凶中中

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
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

除遠栽
服行種

Planting Crops
Long Journeys
Discarding Clothign

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

初
一
乙
巳
火
軫
開

First Day (seventh lunar month)

Cyclical day: yisi (42/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Mix (28/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Open (11/12)

————————————————— 

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

__________________________

秋立
二十申
十六  
分時正
__________________________ 
宜

安裁入

牀衣學

作理會

灶髮友

__________________________ 

 至風涼

__________________________ 

上重楊

兀日忌

Beginning of Autumn
In the shen hour; 16:20 o'clock
(The thirteenth of twenty-four fifteen-day periods in the solar calendar)

Appropriate Activities  
Entering Study

Meeting Friends

Cutting-out Clothing

Patterning Hair

Positioning Beds

Stove Work 

Cooling Winds Arrive
(the thirty-seventh of seventy-two five-day micro-periods in the solar calendar)

Miscellaneous Information 
Poplar Taboo
Repeated Days
Upper Amputee

————  

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars

(right to left)
白 林
White, Copse

—————————————————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

(Top to bottom; right to left)
碓

牀 磨  
Pestle
Bed, Mortar