China's Lunar Calendar 2013 08-12

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT August 19.....................................................................................................August 11 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) 
十
二
一期星

  Eighth Month, Twelfth Day

Astral Period One
Monday, August 12

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Section Two

Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)

福德歲
德日支

Generational Branch
Virtuous Days
Fortunate Virtue

—————————————————

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

吉凶凶

酉己丑

中中吉

戌午寅

凶吉凶

亥未卯

凶吉中

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

07:00-09:00 Inauspicious
09:00-11:00 In-Between
11:00-13:00 Auspicious
13:00-15:00 Auspicious

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

行除結
喪服綱

Binding Nets
Discarding Clothing
Mourning Visits

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

 初
六
庚
戌
金
心
滿

Sixth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: gengxu (47/60)

Phase (element): Metal

Constellation: Heart (5/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Fullness (3/12)

————————————————— 

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

伏末
宜

栽理會
種髮友
納補裁
畜塞衣
降露白

復三火
日喪星
Final Prostration
(the last of three ten-day periods denoting intense summer heat)

Appropriate Activities  

Meeting Friends
Cutting-out Clothing
Patterning Hair
Patching and Plugging
Planting Crops
Livestock Payments

White Dew Descends
(the thirty-eighth of seventy-two five day micro-periods in the solar calendar)

Miscellaneous Information 

Fire Star
Three Mournings
Repeated Days

————  

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

白 水
White, Water

—————————————————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

(Top to bottom; right to left)
碓
栖 磨

Pestle
Perch, Mortar