China's Lunar Calendar 2013 08-20

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

⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦ From right to left: ⇦⇦⇦⇦⇦

LEFT August 27........................................................................................................August 20 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
十
二期星

  Eighth Month, Twentieth Day

Astral Period Two
Tuesday, August 20

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Section Two

Beneficent Stars 
(top to bottom, right to left)

生合天歲
氣日德德

Generational Virtue
Heavenly Virtue
Linkage of Days
Engendered Vapor

—————————————————

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

吉中凶

酉己丑

吉吉中

戌午寅

中中凶

亥未卯

凶吉吉

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

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

15:00-17:00 Auspicious
17:00-19:00 Auspicious
19:00-21:00 In-Between
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

搭苫置買
厠蓋業田

Buying Land
Setting-up Industry
Thatched Coverings
Putting-up Toilets

————————————————— 

 Section Five 
Cosmological Information 

十
四
戊
午
火 
室 
開

Fourteenth Day (Seventh Lunar Month)

Cyclical day: wuwu (55/60)

Phase (element): Fire

Constellation: Pyre (13/28)

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

————————————————— 

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

宜

上移出祭
樑徙行祀
安開嫁祈
牀市娶福
開修納入
渠造采學
穿動裁會
井土衣友
煞班
白天四月
虎火耗忌

Appropriate Activities  

Venerating Ancestors
Inquiring-into Fortune
Entering Study
Meeting Friends
Going Out (and about)
Marriage Alliances
Grain Payments
Cutting-out Clothing
Moving Residences
Opening Markets
Repairing and Building
Moving Soil
Erecting Beams
Positioning Beds
Opening Sluices
Boring Wells

Classified Balefulness

Miscellaneous Information

Lunar Taboo
Four Squanderings
Heavenly Conflagration
White Tiger

————  

Section Seven
Inauspicious Stars 
(right to left)

丫 火
Bifurcation, Fire

—————————————————

Section Eight
Miscellaneous Activities

(Top to bottom; right to left)
碓 牀 房

Pestle, Bed, House