China's Lunar Calendar 2013 08-16

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
六
五期星

  Eighth Month, Sixteenth Day

Astral Period Five
Friday, August 16

———————————————— 
Section Two

Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)

解聖
神心

Sagely Heart
Releasing Spirits

—————————————————

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

凶吉中

酉己丑

吉中中

戌午寅

吉凶凶

亥未卯

凶吉中

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

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

15:00-17:00 Inauspicious
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

祭開
祀倉

Opening Granaries
Venerating Ancestors

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

 初
十
甲
寅
水
牛
破

Tenth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: jiayin (51/60)

Phase (element): Water

Constellation: Ox (9/28)

"Day Personality" Cycle: Destroy (7/12)

————————————————— 

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

宜

破
屋
壊
垣
債月
不破
復大
喪耗

Appropriate Activities  

Destroy Walls
Smash Embankments

Miscellaneous Information

Lunar Repression
Great Squander
Debt Not
Return Mourning

————  

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

人 天
Person, Heaven

—————————————————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

(Top to bottom; right to left)
占
爐 門

Divination
Furnace, Gate